I should start this by saying right off the bat that I have never been a member of PETA or any other animal activism group. Nor have I ever really cared where by food comes from other than the grocery store. I really never felt any concern for the animals raised to produce my hamburgers and fried chicken. And for the most part, when I have heard others speaking out about these issues, I've usually given then a deaf ear.
Last night, while my children were in their beds and my husband was asleep beside me, I had a terrible time getting to sleep. So, I checked my DVR to see what I had available to watch. Okay, I know it's sad but I do DVR Oprah - and I'm not ashamed to say it. I have learned lot's of interesting things from her show and while I might not watch every episode I do record them all just in case there is a topic I would like. And last night I found just that. Wednesday's episode of the Oprah Show, titled Food 101 was extremely interesting.
One of Oprah's guests was Michael Pollan, author of several books regarding food and where it comes from. The conversation was extremely enlightening for me in regards to the origins of that hamburger and fried chicken I mentions. The show featured many clips from the documentary Food Inc. (trailer below) that gave glimpses into food industries and their practices which I had never even known existed. Listen, I am totally not one who believes in scare tactics and that's why I was so interested in the show. No one was saying "Stop eating all of that food now!" it was more like: "Hey, think about what's right for you and make the changes you think are right for your family."
Well, after watching the show I now realize that I have a lot to think about regarding the food I feed my family. The first thing I did this morning was visit my Netflix rental queue to see if they had Food Inc. available. They did and I was actually able to watch it right on my computer. I will say after watching the film in it's entirety that I am a bit shocked about how the animals raised to feed us are treated. Alright, now I have a lot more to contemplate than I thought I did.
I'm not saying that I am totally going to overhaul everything that we buy and eat tomorrow, but possible change little things. I'm not really sure which things, or even how to may the changes. But I know that I have to do something, small though it may be.
I'll keep you up to date with what I come up with.
