McDonald the Chicken Slayer

As I went to make myself some dinner tonight, I found myself wandering around the kitchen. Out of food, I decided to go out to get something. While I was driving down McGalliard, I started seeing the signs for McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, and so on. Tonight though, they looked different. Instead of seeing the company names, I saw chickens too fat to walk, pink mush being bleached back to white, and manure covered cows falling into a grinder. Needless to say, watching “Food, Inc.” in class changed my whole outlook on the food I eat.

I’ve always known that there are extra “things” put into our food, and that manufacturers grow animals specifically for food, but not to what extent it happens. It is one thing to see PETA flyers, but it is a whole different experience watching it happen. Before I get into the specifics of the video, I would like to say that I appreciated the approach that they took to the production.  At first glance the film seemed biased because the only people talking were for on the “organic side” of the battle, but then I realized that this was only the because the food companies did not want to be interviewed. I think this shows how they cannot even defend their practices.

As far as the video goes, there were many that the major food producers do that I found appalling. The first thing that I had a major problem with was how they grow the chickens. It made me really uncomfortable when I saw how they consistently give them growth hormones and antibiotics. I know, they grow faster this way, but I would rather have them grown naturally and slower. I have heard people talk about this before, but I really thought it was all a myth. I really can’t decide who has it worse though, the chicken or the cows. I had always wondered what a cattle farm looked like, and unfortunately, I got to see. I just couldn’t take seeing them all just standing in feces.

Granted, all of these things took a toll on me, but I wonder how long it will be before I fall back into the fast food cycle, or if I will at all. It definitely opened my eyes, and let me see how powerful a given medium can be. I feel like the other topics we have discussed in class, I had some prior knowledge on, but when it comes to food I really had no idea. Now that I am an “informed consumer,” I wonder how my next trip to the grocery store will go.