Food Inc.

Notes:

Interesting:

- Average supermarket has over 47000 products

- Meat - Processed in a factory where both the animals and workers are somewhat slaughtered
- Meat being factored is dangerous and becomes dangerous - why?
- Unskilled labour - lowers payments for the workers
- In the 1970s about five companies controlled the food market which was is about an eighth of
a cow
- GMO-ed chickens for larger breasts so we could eat more
- Farming chicks are cruel
- After tabasco was legalized, many farmers went into chicken farming
- Chickens never see sunlight - most farmers will do this
- Not exactly farming but mass producing
- Contracts between companies and farms can be terminated because of small things like not
agreeing to let the chickens see light
- 1 farmer could make about 20 bushels of corn, now days 200 is easily done
- Corn is an ingredient in a ton of products (corn syrup, hydrochloric acid, etc.)
- Corn is pretty important for the animals
- CAFO - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation
- Farmers feed cows corn because its cheaper and makes the cows fatter
- E.Coli is basically in everything now (spinach, meat, etc.)
- 2007 - some peanut butters had salmonella
- 1972, the FDA conducted approximately 50,000 food safety inspection
- 2006 FDA conducted 9,164
- About 13 slaughterhouses in america
- Ground beef can be very contaminated with bacteria
- USDA said they dont have the authority to shut down the plants
- USDA made it a law that if you failed the safety test, youd be shut down
- Kevins law would give back the USDA the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produce
contaminated meat
- Hamburger meats can be cleaned with ammonia to kill E.Coli
- Lower the income = the more obese you were
- Chance of diabetes was (one out of 3) from newborns, Now its
- Most farmers are feeding cows with corn and the unused part of dead cows
- Killing chickens outside is most likely better than in factories
- Corn for feeding fishes as well
- E.Coli is mainly found in poop
- 100 mile diameter circle drive to pick up the workers
- 32,000 hogs are slaughtered per day
- Immigrant workers work for less so the people recruited them
- Lot of organic food from Walmart
- Monsanto Corporation produces pesticides but now produces food
- Patent - a government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially
the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention. (you can patent life)
- You cant save your own seed (its illegal)
- Monsantos had about 75 workers
- No more public seeds
- Black list = list of bad people
- Monsanto was going to sue the seed cleaners for giving a reason to the other farmers to
patent their seeds
- A debate about having GMO product labeled GMO
- Prices rise because of the gas/fuel the farmers use to farm (tractors, mowers, etc.)
- A meal travels about 1500 miles to our local supermarkets

Questions:
- Why take the grass out of cows even though itll be digested later?
- Why do they keep chickens in the dark?
- Why did they put a law on keeping beans in the first place?
- How does a field keep getting contaminated with GMO?
- Since both GMO food and Organic food are expensive, why do people buy more of the GMO
food?
- Whats the definition of Organic food?