Food, Inc Reflection

After watching Food Inc, what are your impressions of how science of food industry, technology of food industry, and society are interrelated?  

Well the movie didn't change my thoughts much, it just enforced them. We as a society are completely changing Earth to suit our needs and as the society grows bigger, its needs do too. It is no surprise that we are now taking such bad care of animals if you think about how many other things we are doing to our planet already. The problem is that you cannot change nature without getting side effects which can be pretty dangerous. For example when people started feeding corn to cows instead of grass. Cows aren't "built" for eating corn and so they couldn't digest it properly. After that, harmful e-coli started forming in their stomachs. When they excreted waste, the e-coli was included in it and if it wasn't washed off the cows properly enough, it could be very dangerous and even lethal once a part of the meat. Producing food the "wrong" way is much cheaper than doing it the "right" way. This is a strong motivation for doing things the "wrong" way as people tend to prefer getting more money from doing the "right" thing. 

How did the film describe science & technology as a positive or negative impact on society or the environment?  

In most parts, Food, Inc is sending a clear message that technology and science have a bad effect on food and do not belong in the area of food making. It shows videos of how bad the conditions on farms and in butcheries are these days. It has the positive effects of faster and cheaper food making which allows cheaper food and therefore creates a "win-win" situation. The problem is as I mentioned before that sometimes it becomes a "win-lose" situation. An example of this was the case of Kevin. The involvement of science and technology in food making caused his early death because he ate a hamburger that contained lethal e-coli.

How do our consumer choices affect what is out on the market and therefore, our own species survival?  

The supply meets the demand. That means that if we demand(buy) higher quality food from real farms more will be supplied and vice-versa. Also if we demand(buy) less cheap, poorly made food, less of it will be supplied. The problem is that the "wrong" choice is cheaper and therefore people will choose it more often as today money means more than ever before. The low quality food can  also have a fancier package but that changes nothing about how bad for you it is compared to real bio food.

How are we as humans connected to how the Earth is used?  

Earth is the only place where we can possible live. Most creatures live very sustainable but we humans keep taking more than we really need. We also change everything to suit our needs which is destroying Earth pretty fast. Not only do we abuse our planet, we abuse it a lot. We are like a group of unstoppable consumers that keeps taking but won't give. If we don't stop being so self-centered then there is only one end, and nobody is going to like it.

A few ideas that popped up in conversation throughout the movie were:  

• The companies have become much stronger than the consumers
• There is almost no way to escape it
• The supply meets the demand
• Treating animals like that should be illegal
• etc, etc, etc,

When do we say "no" to more high tech devices and go back to what caused the problem in the first place?  Why are we only into the "HOW" things work and not the "WHY" things don't?  What did this farmer mean? 

I think that he meant that people simply keep improving their technologies to be become faster and cheaper. There is a problem though, they don't look at why and what problems they are having. As long as you can get bigger, those problems don't matter because you are a bit richer again. Instead if we just looked at the problem we began with which was farming, we could find better solutions than we are using today but the big companies don't want to look back because everything runs so smoothly when you can do it the "wrong" way.

What is the difference between natural farming and industrial farming?  Which is better?  Are they both necessary for human survival?  Why or why not? 

Natural farming is farming as we know it mostly from stories and movies. It's about letting the animals live almost as if they were free, letting them feed on grass, letting them walk around freely, etc. Industrial farming is what is the most common but what people try to hide away from you.  It's a system that is cruel to the animals but tends to get the most out of them for the lowest price. They both have certain benefits but Food, Inc seems to be sending a clear message that the first one is better. Humans could survive on both even thought it would be harder on natural farming as it is less productive than industrial farming. It is more ecological though. 

If technology and industry have improved so much that we are getting faster, fatter, bigger, and cheaper, how are science and technology held responsible for improving or ruining human health and survival? 

As I have mentioned many times already, Food, Inc sends a clear message that technology is ruining our food. The food might be more perfect at first sight but if you take your time to actually study the food then you will find out that it is actually far from perfect It might make the animals "faster, fatter, bigger, and cheaper" but it makes as only fatter and cheaper in a sense as it shows how easily we can be bribed with a lower price.

What economic costs, environmental costs, ethical costs, health costs, and cultural costs did you observe while watching the film?  



Well, the animals aren't made to go through what we do to them. This causes them to be unhealthy. This ruins the environment. But people knowing about your methods could ruin your reputation and so you will have to pay some ethical costs to hide that. If people don't know about how bad and unreliable your products are, they will buy them and possibly become sick. That is the health cost. The cultural cost is that using certain methods you can make your food so cheap that it is the most economic but possibly also the least healthy choice for your customers. 



Finally, state your final thoughts about this film and any changes you see happening in the food industry in the future or even your own eating habits.   


The film was very understandable and could be very helpful for opening up the eyes of people that aren't aware of what's happening. Unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to effect my eating habits much and sadly to say, I won't stop being a normal customer.