I watched Food Inc. with my hubby the other night. Oh dear lord. If you have not seen this diminutive documentary, you should. The film shows the disconnect between our food supply and ourselves. It's disturbing.
The film introduces us to a man named Eldon Roth, founder and owner of BPI (Beef Products Incorporated). He created a process by which our ground beef is soaked in Ammonia in order to kill E Coli bacteria and other pathogens that are passed into the meat during processing. These pathogens are passed into the meat because the cattle are raised on giant, industrial feed lots where the animals are forced to live with thousands of other animals, often covered in feces. During processing the feces that is covering the animals is washed into our food. What comes out of that machine, after it's Ammonia soak, is a grayish, square, gelatinous gob of meat-like substance that is sold to fast food restaurants and institutions for human consumption.
This past weekend, the hubby and kids and I went to a local winery and were introduced to a group of folks who are trying their best to produce local organic foods and buy local organic foods. I was tickled pink. I have now found a source for grass fed beef, free range chickens, farm fresh eggs, and organically grown fruits and veggies. There was even a stay-at-home dad who bakes organic and whole grain breads and sells them to locals. Yum. I'm loving the spirit of embracing change for the greater good that I feel is taking place all over the country. I am especially gratified by seeing it here in Iowa where so many of these food related industries are based and where so many good people make their livings. We've got big corn agri-business, meat packing plants, Tyson foods, feed lots, and Eldon himself here in Iowa. That small group on Saturday, of regular folks trying to make a difference, gave me a reason to feel hopeful.
The reason I bring up Eldon is that, ironically, Eldon has opened a fancy restaurant right here in Sioux City, Iowa. It's called Eldon's. It's a steak house.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Eldon's
Posted by S.D.S at 12:20 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
starting to think about Localvore eating myself. We have a CSA around the corner that raises cows, pigs and chickens that seem to have a life before they become beef, pork and kentucky-fried.
Hereabouts at least (NJ I mean) there's a shortage of legal slaughterhouses, so we can only buy their meat flash-frozen ... is that true where you are, also?
Thank you for raising this point. I have heard of “Food Inc.” but have not yet had the opportunity to see it. Here in Amarillo beef is king, and I am looking forward to seeing this movie. I am curious to see how it contrasts with the accepted culture here. I will make it a point to see it this weekend based on your blog.
I try to eat well and take care of my body. It is not always easy in our society. We are bombarded with advertisements for fast food, candy, sugar cereal, pop and so on. 34% of all Americans are obese and this number is growing.
What are we doing to ourselves?
Actually, here is Iowa we have many, many butchers and slaughter houses. Finding corn fed beef is easy. However, cows aren't supposed to eat corn, their bodies are not adapted to it. Grass fed beef is a little bit harder find but not impossible.
F40, hope you find Food Inc. as enlightening as I did. I think that your statistics are a little bit low, I believe that its more like 60% of Americans are overweight and the next generation is trending towards being the first generation that will have less life expectancy than their parents.
Our food is processed, refined and filled with additives that are killing our children. Diabetes, asthma, and heart disease are being seen now in children based on a diet filled with garbage food. It's backwards. Sometimes I have to wonder if there is a link between our food and the abundance of autism and ADHD that we are seeing.
Sorry, got on a rant. Something has got to change though.
Along with the shortened lifespan, I've heard of children as young as 15 with weight-related knee injuries. Obesity is one issue we are in full control of.
Food Inc. has been sitting on my DVR since Wednesday night. Really look forward to viewing it. It will be running on PBS's P.O.V. program for a few more days, if I remember correctly.
I live in IOwa..Sioux City to be exact and I REFUSE to eat at Eldon's for many reasons!! I have passed the word on his greediness behavior as well as his use of toxic chemicals to "wash" his beef..gross! My neighbor works for him and she herself, has nothing nice to say about the so-called boss. Pretty sad that he is out for another dollar and if he harms the public's health along the way, it's not his worry.
I agree with everything you said above and I have watched Food Inc many times and passed it on to my friends and family members! Love the documentary and have adapted clean eating into my lifestyle and my family. Thank you and something needs to be done to stop this madness!!
jana
Post a Comment