Blooger Essay# 1, Our Nation's Food Supply

Lillian Boatwright
English 101, Section 0781
March 12, 2010
Blog # 1
The Naked Truth About Our Nation’s Food Industry

After watching the documentary movie Food, Inc. - directed by Robert Kenner, I was astonished to learn that our nation’s food supply was governed by greedy and heartless food companies. This movie was an eye-opener on how our homeland food is produced and, how these companies made a huge profit at the expense of our health. Listening to the countless stories, just to name a couple, such as a family whose diet consisted of the “Dollar Menu” at a fast-food establishment, and a farmer who worked for the Perdue meat company-later lost her contract with them, was attention-grabbing.
The Perdue Company has given many of us Americans a falsifying image about their meat products. On their meat labels read: Always Fresh and All Natural, A Family Commitment to Quality Since 1920. It was very interesting to learn about how Perdue’s chickens are really raised. One of a Perdue’s farmer, who is now no longer contracted with them, has unfolded her story about the thriving meat company. Perdue’s chickens were raised in an old style farm houses with open windows, unlike Tyson’s chicken where they rarely see light of day, in contaminated environment. They are kept similar to an assembly line in a factory, breathing in dust from everywhere, and resting in their feces. Some of the chickens growths were stunted because of the chemicals they were fed. And regardless of how sick the chickens were, they still went out for processing. And because she chose to raise the chickens in the open window house and, not adopting to Tyson’s method, her contracted was cancelled.
I must admit that I have experienced first- hand what is was like to eat at fast-food establishments ordering only the inexpensive meals. Listening to the story of a family whose diet consisted sometimes from the “Dollar Menu” at a certain fast -food restaurant was heartbreaking. This family was under the impression that the foods they consumed from Burger King were healthy. When they realized the dangers which lurked in their foods, they tried to change their eating habits. But to no avail, the food prices for vegetables and fruits were too expensive for them to afford. They also had another dilemma to deal with; the husband had diabetes. His medications were expensive and, living on a low income was rough. So it’s no surprise why they were simple left with no choice but to eat unhealthy.
The movie Food, Inc. really had exposed the food companies, the government leaders, and the government’s regulatory agencies about their misleading practices. Unfortunately, peoples’ livelihood and health were affected by the greed of such companies. In learning what the food companies’ tactics are - selling us unhealthy foods and profiting from it, I will try to make better choices in the foods that I eat. It can be costly to eat healthy. Also, I will become educated about our nation’s food supply buy reading nutrition books other informative resources. I’m going to inform my family and friends about the naked truth regarding our food supply, so they can make sound decisions in the foods they eat.