Food, Inc., “lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.”  The movie discusses how the industry has changed over the last few decades, consumer health, American farmers and other topics relating to agriculture.

As with any documentary of this sort, it presents a one-sided argument, although this one I agree with.  I do believe the food industry has gotten out of hand with the number of multinational conglomerates that have taken over.  Why should a hamburger at McDonald’s cost less than carrots at the supermarket?  Logically it does not make sense when more components are involved with the creation of the burger.  It also was a bit scary that a typical grocery store contains over 42,000 different items, 90% of which contain corn or soy.

Unfortunately, I believe the movie was a bit too short and glossed over the points I thought were the most interesting.  The bulk of the time the film was exposing wrongdoings with the agriculture industry (there are a lot).  There were only a few brief minutes discussing how the organic industry has evolved.  For example, Stonyfield Farm, the #3 yogurt producer in the United States is now owned by the Dannone Group and supplies Wal-mart.  I think the argument Gary Hirshberg (CEO of Stonyfield) brought up was very thought provoking.  He felt for every million Wal-mart spent buying organic, it was one less million spent on non-organic.  Of course, that million is going to his company, so it’s not surprise he’s supporting it.  I would have loved to have seen some people’s views supporting and opposing this theory.

I’m a big supporter of making small changes.  I think it’s unrealistic for everyone to stop what they’re doing and only buy organic and local foods.  I think the suggestions for everyone at the end of the movie were things people already knew for the most part.  I’ve listed them below, with my comments in italics ;

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages – Did I just watch Food Inc. or Fast Food Nation?
   
2. Eat at home instead of eating out - Duh, it saves money and is healthier
   
3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post caloric information on menu and menu boards – Isn’t this already passed?
   
4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks – I don’t have kids, not applicable
   
5. Meatless Mondays – go without meat one day a week – I agree with this.  Personally I think everyone could benefit from some extra legumes
   
6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides – Great if you can afford it, see further comments below
   
7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s markets – Usually prices are good and the food variety is better.  Also look into CSA boxes, they tend not to be outrageously expensive
   
8. Make a point to know where your food comes from – Read labels – Duh
   
9. Tell congress that food safety is important to you – I think they should have told us how to do this
   
10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections – See comment for #9

Personally, I would have liked to see more information on how to make an impact.  These last ten items were almost an afterthought to the movie.  For example, suggestions on  how to make a difference when on a tight budget is just one item that would have been more interesting.  Additionally, I was surprised the website did not go into further detail on the ways you can make small changes.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and the entire US Food System isn’t going to change overnight either.

Criticism aside, I think everyone should go see the film.  I had no idea that over 80% of meat products are controled by 4 companies (as opposed to 5 companies controling less than 40% in 1970).  It’s those small nuggets of information that make the movie worthwhile.  It’s important to see what you’re feeding your body.  If you don’t take care of yourself, who else will?

Well a couple of weeks ago my roommates and I went to Costco and I picked up a giant crate of strawberries.  Since it was Costco, there were enough strawberries to feed a small army (or in my case a house full of people).  I did manage to stash a couple of them away in the freezer for future use luckily.  Unfreezing berries for cooking always yields mushy results, which are fantastic for baking.  When I initially froze the strawberries I had no future plans and thought I would hold on to them until I found something delicious to make.  Well luckily, that something found me.  While in Whole Foods last week I decided to buy a magazine but unfortunately they were out of Us Weekly, so I picked up Whole Living instead (I’m joking…Whole Foods doesn’t even sell Us Weekly).

Anyway, I found this recipe for Strawberry Muffins and

I just knew they had to be made.

I think they’ve gone over well with the aforementioned army known as my roommates.  More than have of them were gone in less than 24 hours and the remainder within 48.

I like this recipe for a couple of reasons.  The first being, I modified it a bunch and the muffins were still delicious.  Secondly, it does not produce an overly sweet muffin.  The cake part is wholesome and the strawberries are the sweet parts of the muffin.  As a result, these are good for breakfast on the run.

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Whole Living

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar, lightly mash the berries and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined and divide among 12 muffins.
4. Bake about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.