You showed up with a black eye, looking to start a fight

I've kept that last post up, despite it being, at times, a sprawling, whiny, mess. First off, let me say I didn't do a good job articulating myself, at least as it concerns me feeling that I don't matter to people. I've had a good night's sleep, practiced yoga, had some eggs, and am enjoying some coffee as I type this. I am in a better position to be articulate.

I do think that I matter to people. I guess what I was trying to get at, unsuccessfully, was that because of my position, my being untethered, as I put it, I'm not really in any one's immediate sphere of importance. And by anyone, I'm referring to people with families and other responsibilities that occupy their attention. And while it's sometimes a bummer to be so free-floating, it's often a great, freeing thing. When you're answerable only to yourself, there's bound to be some fun involved.

To conclude the topic, I'll stress two things in reiteration: 1. I have accepted, embraced, my current position, which is entirely a singular one. 2. Like with anything, it has its pros and cons.
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On to Food, Inc. I knew what to expect going into it. I'd heard from multiple sources how disturbing, yet enlightening, the documentary was. I watched it yesterday and knowing what to expect didn't lessen the impact. It was disturbing. It was enlightening. It should be viewed by any one who eats food.

We are in the midst of the age of centralization and, unless we change things, our society will crumble. We see centralization in government, in media, in food distribution, in just about everything. As a result, a small, single digit, percentage of people horde the wealth and power, while the average citizen becomes more and more marginalized, insignificant. Our masters are cold and reptilian and do not have our best interests in mind. Don't believe me? Well, for starters, watch Food, Inc. Then watch Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. Then watch some Democracy Now. Then....wait a minute, I don't think I need to convince any of you, you're my readers, you are smart.

Back to Food, Inc. Watching it motivated me to change how I buy food. I knew it would; I needed a strong enough impetus. Today I bought eggs from cage-free, hormone free, vegetable fed, chickens. I rarely eat meat these days, but from now on when I do, I will be conscious of the meat I buy. The way they raise and slaughter these animals is a crime against nature. There is no reverence, no appreciation, no connection to them what so ever. The terror they experience is enormous. A crime against nature. Nothing less.

From Roger Ebert's review:

The next time you tuck into a nice T-bone, reflect that it probably came from a cow that spent much of its life standing in manure reaching above its ankles. That's true even if you're eating the beef at a pricey steakhouse. Most of the beef in America comes from four suppliers. The next time you admire a plump chicken breast, consider how it got that way. The egg-to-death life of a chicken is now six weeks. They're grown in cages too small for them to move, in perpetual darkness to make them sleep more and quarrel less. They're fattened so fast they can't stand up or walk. Their entire lives, they are trapped in the dark, worrying.

All of this is overseen by a handful of giant corporations that control the growth, processing and sale of food in this country. Take Monsanto, for example. It has a patent on a custom gene for soybeans. Its customers are forbidden to save their own soybean seed for use the following year. They have to buy new seed from Monsanto. If you grow soybeans outside their jurisdiction but some of the altered genes sneak into your crop from your neighbor's fields, Monsanto will investigate you for patent infringement. They know who the outsiders are and send out inspectors to snoop in their fields.

Food labels depict an idyllic pastoral image of American farming. The sun rises and sets behind reassuring red barns and white frame farmhouses, and contented cows graze under the watch of the Marlboro Cowboy. This is a fantasy. The family farm is largely a thing of the past. When farmland comes on the market, corporations outbid local buyers. Your best hope of finding real food grown by real farmers is at a local farmers' market. It's not entirely a matter of "organic" produce, although usually it is. It's a matter of food grown nearby, within the last week.

It will be less convenient and a little more expensive, but I'm going to change the way I buy food. I hope someday enough people follow suit and we can see the return of actual farmers who won't disrespect and pollute the food we ingest.
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Happy Memorial Day!