In my opinion, one of the most important ideas and evidence used in Fresh was the statement that we really don't know where our food comes from, just because we buy produce that is expensive we assume that it is fresh but "fresh" can have many different meanings. Another important idea mentioned, as stated by John Ikerd, is the idea that "We got so obsessed with production and more cheap stuff". This quote goes along with the statement made by Joel Salatin that "the problem with industry is they're faster, bigger, cheaper". Industrial farmers are more concerned with producing large amounts of items and less worried about how they achieve that goal. I also thought the question of "is this way of farming the best for the animals' sake?" The video states that seventy percent of all row crops grown in the United States is grown for herbivores that shouldn't even have them. So is this way of farming really the best option? If I were going to review this film, I would focus on each of the perspectives given by each of the different people like John Ikerd, Joel Salatin, and Will Allen along with the graphic images provided in the film that really allowed the audience to see where our food comes from.
Some of the strengths of the video are that it included the perspectives of many different individuals, it provided images that allowed the audience to better understand where our food comes from, and gave statistics to back the statements that people made. Some of the weaknesses of the video are that some members of the audience may not be aware of some of the terminology used prior to the video, so those could've been explained a little more in the video and the clips of the people being interviewed were a little fast. But overall, the film did a good job of informing the audience about being cautious when choosing the foods you eat.
I chose to research the negative effects of industrial farming. Industrial farming has been said to be a success in relation to the increased amount of production for a cheaper price, but it is unsuccessful in regards to the effects this type of farming has on our health and the environment. Water is being pumped from reservoirs faster than it can be replaced. The amount of toxic chemicals in our surrounding environment is increasing. The use of fossil fuels in this type of farming is causing ozone pollution and global warming. Also, although it may seem cheaper, there are a large amount of costs that we are unaware of that come from the amount of energy that is necessary in this type of farming. The source: http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html#.VgG9kstRHIU
I totally agree with what you said. I think that factory farming needs to change its ways. Like you said above the financial reward is larger is in factory farming but the toll it has on the environment and people's health is not. According to farmsanctauary.com cows are pumped with a growth hormone to help produce milk. These cows are also slaughtered for meat and the growth hormones are also shown to increase the chance of breast, prostate, and colon cancer. This is scary because when people eat they don't think about that it could cause a fatal disease such as cancer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-human-health/
I agree that consumers' general lack of knowledge regarding where their food comes from is an important, if not disturbing, takeaway from the film. One of the things I found interesting related to this is that the ignorance isn't always as a result of not knowing. Sometimes it can be an intentional ignorance. Karen Parker's statement that "My food don't have a name", is an example of how we can willingly disassociate our food from where it comes from.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that industrial farming is all about getting money and very little about the quality of the food. Companies have force farmers to produce more for less or face the economic consequences. As a result, our health and the environment have paid the price. Luckily as we see in the film the solutions are out there and all that needs to be done is to figure out how to put them in to practice.
ReplyDeleteWe can clearly see the unintended consequences of industrial farming and the refreshing thing about Fresh is that you can see people within the system explaining why this is wrong and instead of wholeheartively defending old farming, they offer solutions as to how they can make old farming better and still get better results than industrial farming. Great point on how this documentary teaches us where our food comes from.
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