Day 2: Holy Cow Man

I was going to write a post this morning, with no other motivation than my experience on Wii Fit last night. For the record, my BMI is about 21.5 and my Wii Fit Age is only 22 (I'm 23).

But then, I happened to watch Food Inc. today. Have you seen it? Holy cow. Or, in the case of corporate American farming...not-so-holy cow.

I'll try not to get into a lot of details of the movie, but really...you should watch it. Don't worry, it's not like the book The Jungle, and it won't turn you into a vegetarian or vegan. In fact, one of my favorite interviews was with a farmer who raised chicken, pigs, etc. and refuses to sell out to corporate American farming practices. Rock on, fella. BUT...it will definitely get you to think twice (three times, even) about where your food is coming from.

I'll admit, I'm definitely turning into a big hater of mass-produced anything. But, I'm also broke, so I understand the appeal. I've managed to give up Walmart (yea...I watched that documentary, too), but I'm not going to pretend like Target (one of my favorite stores) is an angel.

But the most important information that I took away from this documentary was not just about the evils of corporation and money. Not just about the poor conditions for workers or the animals being produced. Among all of these concerns, my biggest is the quality of nutrition (or lack thereof?).

I already knew that most mass-produced beef cattle are fed corn (because corn is used in EVERYTHING)...but I didn't realize that eating corn is what causes Ecoli in cows. ECOLI people...not fucking cool. Cows are meant to eat grass...this is why. And don't think you're safe if only one cow gets Ecoli. Because in mass production, that one cow's meat is mixed with thousands of other cows' meat. (Hence nationwide outbreaks...awesome). And the Ecoli in spinach (that outbreak was in 2006, I believe)? That's because all of these mass-produced-cows' shit gets dumped into waters that end up being used to irrigate crops. YUMMY!

I haven't even started on chicken or pigs yet. And have I mentioned that corn is used in EVERYTHING? Because it is...in genetically altered forms with names that you might recognize, but probably can't pronounce. High Fructose Corn Syrup is only one among many.

Personally, I'd like everything that enters my body to be natural unless I specifically choose something that I know isn't. (I had a Splenda addiction...and I mean addiction...for a year or two.) But our super fun, FDA this, Censor that, control control control government will actually pass laws that protect companies from labeling whether or not their food is genetically altered. In fact, one company basically dominates most of the soybean industry...they genetically alter soybeans to make them immune to pesticides and such. And farmers that don't comply get to lose thousands and thousands of dollars in lawsuits! Yay government!!!

Well, now my roommates have put a movie on (Paranormal Activity...I've wanted to see it for months), so I'm going to end my ranting for today.

I will say, before I go, that unfortunately I did not eat completely vegan today. Apparently, the won ton wrappers that I used to make "vegan" pot stickers have eggs in the ingredients. But, they are organic...so I feel better about that at least.

Tomorrow I've got a sushi date w/ the boyfriend...but I'm going to try to order off of a "sustainable seafood" guide so I can eat healthier AND protect our ocean! Mmm...I love sushi. But other than that...all vegan and organic tomorrow. Rock on.