Food Inc.

Watching Food Inc. really opened my eyes. However, I feel like this eye opening happens with everyone after they watch a documentary with such a powerful message, but not much ever gets done about it. I remember first watching Super Size Me in seventh grade science class, and I was appalled. I, like everyone else who first watches this documentary, vowed to no longer consumer McDonald's. I really did well with this challenge, I didn't eat McDonald's for three years after watching that documentary, but one day that was my only option to eat for a while, so I gave in. I eat McDonald's now occassionally, but no where near the amount I did before watching the film. But what did me stopping eating McDonald's for three years do? Absolutely nothing. The industry was still thriving, and people were still consuming horrible, chemically enhanced food.
Watching Food Inc. brought a lot of those feelings back. But this time I decided to look into the information provided by the film a little bit more. Everyone knows in the back of their mind that many animals are treated cruelly in order to produce the food we eat everyday, but seeing it just makes it so much more real. I would love to be a vegetarian to rebel against this treatment, but that still won't change anything, and if I enjoy something like meat, why can't I have it without worry of dying? I think, due to research I've done, that there are so many more alternatives to the way people are eating meat. So much has been done to try to change the production of meat, but I honestly don't think it will change, so people must change how they consume it.
Because America is so in love with their meat, it is hard to propose eating less, but it would truly help the problem. The cattle being fed corn is not good for them at all, and in turn not good for us to be consuming their insides. The corn raises the cholestoral level, which we all know, causing our meat to be more unhealthy. If a cow ate grass, we in turn would be eating healthier just eating the things we eat right now. The corn also causes a cow's intestinal tract to be far more acidic which encourages the growth of E. coli, which is so so deadly. One article that I stumbled upon talks about how corn feeding impacts fossil fuel energies.
"According to David Pimentel, a Cornell ecologist who specializes in agriculture and energy, the corn we feed our feedlot cattle accounts for a staggering amount of fossil fuel energy. Growing the corn used to feed livestock in this country takes vast quantities of chemical fertilizer, which in turn takes vast quantities of oil. Because of this dependence on petroleum, Pimentel says, a typical steer will in effect consume 284 gallons of oil in his lifetime."
There are so many things that people can do to make at least a little bit of a difference. Many specialists agree upon the fact that keeping meat in our meals is alright, but as less of a focus. Having it there maybe as a side dish rather than a main course could help reduce the amount of meat eaten, so that cattle could be fed healthily. Although grass-fed meat is the way to go, many people are unable to afford it. But if humans consumed meat the way it was intended, there would be no need for the chemical factories. Prices would be more reasonable, less oil would be wasted, and society would be healthier in general.