Extra Credit!!!!
- Richard Lobb of the National Chicken Council says in the film, “In a way, we’re not producing chickens, we’re producing food.” What does this statement mean? Do you agree or disagree with it? How might this perspective affect the way that chickens are raised?
I completely agree with this statement, chickens are food; cows are food, certain animals are just supposed to be food. We need food to survive; most of us have been raised on eating meat. My dad goes up hunting in the mountains for deer, elk, and bear. Although those are wild animals that have much more freedom than chickens, cows, and pigs. Since we are raising these animals for food, I get that farmers want to keep the cost down but they should have some “rights.” Images of how chickens, cows, and pigs are raised are just cruel and disheartening.
- In the film, food science Professor Larry Johnson says, “If you go and look on the supermarket shelf, I’ll bet you 90 percent of [the products] would contain either a corn or soybean ingredient. And most of the time, it’ll contain both.” Why might it be a problem that the majority of our food is made mostly from just corn and soybeans—so that nearly everything we eat contains them?
That provides for a very unhealthy diet and lifestyle, processed food including a lot of corn and soybeans makes it harder for one’s body to digest. You need different foods in your body to make sure you are the correct vitamins and nutrients. This could be way so many Americans are obese.
- In the film, union organizer Eduardo Peña says, “We want to pay the cheapest price for our food. We don’t understand that it comes at a price.” Do you agree or disagree with him? What evidence do you see in the film that led you to agree or disagree? What evidence do you see in your life that informs your position as well?
It’s true, we all want the best bang for our buck but we don’t really think about who this is impacting. The farms are now factories like he said, showing a lack of care not only for our food but for the individuals responsible. In my life for example the dollar menu at all fast food places is the first place I’ll pick my food from. It’s cheap and tastes the same as the $5 dollar meal.
- As portrayed in the film, cost and efficiency drive our current food system. Should price be the most important force behind our food industry? Why or why not? How might our food system change if it was driven by other values, like health or environmental sustainability?
Price is an important force behind our food industry but it’s pointed in the wrong direction. The head honchos are making all the money while the consumers are getting a deal and the middle man, producers are hardly making a living. Our food system has been trying to change due to health and environmental concerns; however those both cause an increase in price, which many Americans are unwilling and unable to pay. Health and the environment should be our number one concern not only for us but for our future children as well.
- Saving seeds from each year’s crop is a tradition farmers have followed for thousands of years. Think of a tradition that has been in your family for a long time. What if you could no longer have this tradition because someone now legally claims it as theirs?
It would be a culture shock and weird. It would put me in a daze, growing up doing something, that your mom and dad both grew up doing then having it taken from you would be unthinkable. It would cause panic and uncertainty. After that, once one was settled down then it would force you to think of something new. This would probably be something you’ve never thought of before. Breaking tradition and breaking culture is almost wrong. It’s like a daily pattern without it or if something is suddenly gone that your used to it throws off your whole routine.
- In the film, author Michael Pollan says, “I think that one of the most important battles for consumers to fight is the right to know what’s in their food and how it’s grown.” How does his position compare with the California Farm Bureau’s position?
Consumers should know where their food is grown and what exactly is in their food. This position disagrees with the California Farm Bureau’s position which says that the bureau is against labeling because it “creates unnecessary fear in the consumer’s mind.” This is a puzzling statement; I’d rather know what I was eating so I have the freedom to research it rather than have no idea what I am actually eating. Even though our food has labels on it now, I’ll be the first one to say I have no idea what half of the ingredients are anyways. But at least if I want to research the information I have it.
- Do you think the film privileges the experiences and dilemmas facing people in the United States? Why and why not?
No, I think this film was more about the changes in the supermarket and farmer than the individual people in the United States. It shows the problems and dilemmas we could be facing but it never really explains it. So unless you are looking at it in a way that it could affect yourself, it doesn’t really hit home.
- Overall reaction to film?
Personally, I felt like this film was too short to really have a major impact. It was a great film and startling but I wish it was longer to really dive into some of the topics it just brushed upon. The few things I did gather from this film though was how there is no seasons in the American supermarket, we now have over 47,000 products, and that the way we eat has changed more in the past 50 years than the past 10,000. Although I enjoy being able to get strawberries year round, I’d rather forfeit them than have someone else in pain just to pick them whether that be physical pain or monetary. I believe Americans are very lucky; unfortunately we take a lot of it for granted.
Without the supporters of the Jena 6 students, these boys may still be in prison. The supporters of these boys rallied together to bring awareness to the unfairness of this case. None of them should have ever been charged as adults, or charged with attempt of murder. Schoolyard fights happen, I’d say from experience at least once every year. With racial tensions building of course it was bound to be a bad fight. I think the supporters had a right to say it was a racist case; this case was a perfect example of social injustice. 
