Blog Entry 7 - Food Inc.

Food Inc. (Source: Internet, link on image)

There were several people in the class that had seen this film before, but I was not one of them. I would have definitely classified myself as one of those people that would prefer not to know how the meat I buy at the supermarket is prepared. I knew companies are likely cruel and brutal in the livestock they butcher, but I had  no idea just how cruel they were. It was really sad to see how those animals are treated. I remember one segment in particular regarding Tyson and their treatment of chicken. You could see hundreds, possibly even thousands of them, being kept in an area far to small for a healthy life. Then to make things worse, they would be subjected to growth hormones, making them grow at unnatural rates - so fast that they sometimes cannot take adjust quick enough and die. And then when they were set to be shipped to the processing plant, workers would go into the building and dispassionately pick them up and kick them about, as if they weren't living things at all. I like to eat meat, and I know these creatures have to be killed and processed before I can get the meat, but surely there is a more humane way to go about doing it. However, as disturbing as that scene was, I was even more shocked by the one regarding the power the meat companies have against those that disagree with how their operations are run. It is apparently against the law to say negative things about those companies, and those that do can be susceptible to being sued. Even powerful celebrities, like Oprah, have had to endure long and expensive legal battles against them. The fact that the government could allow such corporations to have such  invulnerability against animal rights advocates, and even the population in general, is truly disgusting. It would be nice if one day this issue could rise to the national spotlight, as if more people complained about matters like these, the government would have to do something about it.