FI Assignment 1

The film Food, Inc. has changed the way I eat my meals. In fact, I have been craving a burger for days but I have restrained from ordering one at restaurants because of that movie. One part that stood out to me was the corn they were feeding the cows. The film explained that corn is a significant contributor to most foods we eat because it is so cheap to grow in mass quantities, and it has replaced the normal grass diet of cows.

The film showed cows eating the corn feed from troughs by sticking their head out of a hole in their tiny confinements. This alone was enough to make me feel terrible for the cows because they are denied their natural feeding habits of grazing in fields. There was one farmer who farmed the "traditional" way, and they showed him talking about how ludicrous it was that the cows couldn't graze. He stood in the field with his cows in the background, grazing the natural way, and he explained how they grazed on the grass, but fertilized it as well, and stayed healthier this way. The image of the cows in the background supported the farmer's stance because it looked natural, and the cows looked happier, cleaner, and healthier in general. On a few occasions, narrative voices would explain some of the effects the unnatural feeding habits had on the cows. They explain that, if fed grass for the last 5 days before slaughter, the risk of infection and the number of bacteria in the cow's systems decreases dramatically. I associated this statement with the image of a factory farmer reaching his hand into one of the stomachs of a cow through a hole in it's side, which drove the point home. The narration also explained that if the cows ate their normal grass diet, they would be less prone to infection, and therefore less dependent on antibiotics.

The film and the book explain both the negative health effects this has on the cows and the people, but the effects on the animals stood out more to me in the film while the effects on people stood out more to me in the book. On page 22, the book says, "cattle fed hay for the five days before slaughter had dramatically lower levels of acid-resistant E. coli bacteria in their feces than cattle fed corn or soybeans. E. coli live in cattle's intestinal tract, so feces that escape during slaughter can lead to bacteria contaminating the meat." This explains in more detail the dilemma of infection in corn-fed and pasture raised cattle. This also does not force me to consider the effects it has on the cow, but more how corn-fed cows will affect me. I do not think about the quality of life for the cattle when I read this, but I do think about what could happen to me when I eat beef. Another excerpt at the beginning of the next section on page 22 states that, "beef and milk produced from cattle raised entirely on pasture (where they ate only grass) have higher levels of beneificial fats, including omega-3 fatty acids, which may prevent heart disease and strengthen the immune system." Once again, I hardly picture the cows eating corn on factory farms, but I think about how I benefit from cows grazing naturally. For me, the way the film explains this problem is much more effective, but the book still gets the point across very well.