OMG - I've turned veggie!

The fam and I watched Food, Inc. two nights ago. I wish I could say everyone was excited about watching it but in reality, it was a mandatory viewing event. I didn't care much if any of the kids didn't want to see it. I didn't care that Jacob wanted to spend the night with a friend or that Bre was reading a book. Nope,I wanted them to see it. I felt it was important because it would expose them to something new, something different, something opposite of what they think is ok and above all, I wanted to make them think. I wanted them to think outside of themselves, and their lives, and our own family bubble and see what happens outside of our protective box. I wanted them to question and ponder. We learn so early in English class the four W's (and the H gets thrown in there too) - what, where, why, how and who? But how often do we really ask those things? Any of us? It's time. It's time to ask. It's time to know. It's time to change things.

How will we know what we want to do unless we are shown how things really are? Our food does not come from the grocery store. It was not grown in a well-lit, clean building and packaged in perfect boxes with slogans screaming for our attention. NO, there are two vast differences in where our food comes from. It is not pleasant TV. It will not make us laugh or give us warm fuzzies. It will not elevate our self-esteem and show us how great we are. No, it is unpleasant, uncomfortable, and puts a mirror in our face that could quite possibly reflect an image that makes us feel queasy. An image that is completely necessary and will propel us to do something different or turn our face away and pretend what we saw isn't real or is exaggerated. Some of us will make justifications and excuses to make ourselves feel better and some will succeed in acting with a false ignorance. But none of us will forget.

So, do happy cows really come from California? Does chicken poop really smell like money? Are pigs really smarter than dogs? I'm thinking no, unfortunately yes (to some selfishly sick greedy yahoo's) and yes. I have to say, I will never, ever, EVER, purchase a Tyson product. What a swell guy, what a champ, to have multiple chicken farms, farms without any windows, where chickens are harvested in total darkness from the moment they are born until they die. In the dark, because they don't make a big fuss in there. In the dark, so that way when some fat farmer goes in to grab him by the legs and throw him in the truck it doesn't put up a fight.In the dark, because hey, what they do they need light for anyway? I mean, they can't walk right? Oh no, they've been injected with so many hormones their bodies grow faster than their legs can keep up with them. So they sit, get fat, and are killed. Um, hello people. If they can't stand or walk, where do we think they shit? And when they do, where does it go? I would have to assume it stays under the chicken and he sits right back down in it. mmmm, yum. But hey, i know what you are thinking - those chickens are obviously skinned, cleaned, and sanitized before it ever hits your grocer's freezer and then your BBQ. No chicken poo residue. Well guess what? You are right. It is sanitized. With ammonia. Now doesn't that sounds scrumptious? The next time you decide to grill that moist chicken breast, you can rest assured it has been dipped in ammonia, the same stuff you use to clean your windows, is on your chicken. Yummy.
But the fun doesn't stop there. Oh no. The cows get in on this jacked up cycle of greed too. Old MacDonald had a farm....e.i.e.i.oooo. We all know those McDonald brothers are richer than rich, what with all those tantalizing Big Mac's and Quarter Pounders. But guess what? Those aren't grass fed cows you're eating, Nope. Those cows were forced to evolve to corn eating. How kind of us. Now maybe the cows aren't dropping dead from eatimng corn, but, does anyone wonder why should they? Wouldn't we, as human beings, just be ecstatic, if we were forced to eat a food, not because that's what we were designed to eat it, but because it made us fatter faster? Oh wait... we have evolved. My bad. Cows are meant to eat grass. Duh. Most of them are fed corn. Why? So someone can get rich. So someone can make a buck. Greed. One of the seven deadly sins. Right up there with gluttony. Nice. It looks like we are well on our way of keeping up with that list.

The sad thing is, I can't bag on all the farmers. They are stuck in this vicious cycle as well. It's shocking and heartbreaking really. No, it's the man in the suit, the man that doesn't have to pick up a dead chicken or a sick cow. The man that doesn't have to shovel their shit or even smell it for that matter. The man that sits in his office, with his briefcase, behind a desk, and decides, how can I get richer? And we let him.

I was amazed at the differences between the animals at a huge money-making farm, where they are penned in, hundreds to thousands of them, without any room to walk and their feces everywhere, to the farmer who had his animals outside in the grass and sunshine, eating grass and hay. I wanted to jump through the TV screen and hug him. A farmer with a standard. With beliefs and the ability to not compromise. It was so impressive. Even more so to see the people that drive hundreds of miles to buy food specifically from him because they share the same standard and belief. Rock on. I won't purchase meat for my family any longer if it does not have the label "free-range" or "grass-fed" on it. Yes, my grocery bill will be higher but I'm ok with that. Some things are more important than money.

I only told Jacob to close his eyes twice, and it was mostly because I wasn't sure what we were about to see. I'm still a little lost on how all the pigs died. Were they gassed??!
But Jacob looked at me with the most solemn expression and said, "I'm never eating bacon or ham again. Those poor pigs. It's sad mommy." Sammi, the greatest offender of eye-rolling at anything veggie related, simply said "gross." Bre, well she didn't say much.

I've told them time and time again they don't have to be like me. I'm not asking that they become a vegetarian. I'm only asking that they think about what they are eating.

Which brings me to the crop that affects me the most. The soybean. I didn't realize someone could put a patent on a bean. It's not just a patent on a bean folks. Oh no. It's bigger than that. It's a patent on food. Someone wants to control a basic need that we all have in order to survive. Pretty smart really. Unless you're a sadistic bullying asshole. Then it's sick and controlling. A god complex. It was horrifying to realize that said patent er could put any farmer that doesn't use his bean out of business. A soybean mafia. Disgusting.
Picture yourself a farmer. Here you are, trying to make a living from the land. You seed, you fertilize, and then you harvest your crop. Then, what do you do with all those seeds? Well throw them away of course! Oh genius!That seems really smart right? Well, not to the farmer. And not to anyone else in the population who has any brains or common sense. It's a seed for goodness sake! It means it will grow more food so plant the little sucker. But oh no. Not if you are a soybean farmer. Then you must throw away your perefectly good seed and buy a genetic seed from the soybean mafia. If you don't, some dude dressed in black knocks on your door and puts your name on a list. A hit list if you will. Soon, soon, you will be out of business because you'll owe so much in legal fees, fighting for the right to farm your OWN seed on your OWN land from your OWN crop.
I've always had a special contempt for bullies. I can't stand it when people push around others just because they can. It makes me want to drop kick them on their ass. Even more so when it affects what I put into my body.
I've told Jeff from the moment I became a veggie that I can't believe how versatile a soybean is. That little slut gets around. And it gets around quite a bit in my own diet. What's a veggie to do? Cut back. What else can I do? Learn how to make my own veggie burgers,cut back on the fake meat, use rice milk instead of soy. I'll do fine with less of it. Because if I don't cut back, I'll be guilty of perpetuating the cycle. The cycle of greed and school-yard bullying. The cycle of breaking an honest man trying to make a living so a giant company can get richer. Oh and this is the real clincher - the owner of that soybean? Same dude that owns Round-Up. Sweet. Cool. I love it when I look a little closer, I see how related food and pesticides are. Like second cousins that get caught doing it. It doesn't seem right but we look the other way because even though it's a cousin, they're twice removed. Sick. Some things just shouldn't mix.

I feel like my last few blogs have been really serious. I haven't made any jokes about my ass or spoken of my latest rendezvous with Smoke. I haven't complained about my muffin top or given a play by play of what I have eaten. I almost felt guilty for not being light-hearted enough, but then it hit me.

It's not all about me.

There's a bigger picture. If I don't delve into the bigger picture more often and see what else is going on around me, I've become a victim of complacency. Or maybe even the perpetrator. I have a feeling that's what they all hope for.