FRESH - Movie Review

While many tout the merits of the industrial revolution and the ability we have to produce plentiful supplies of food more cheaply, have the costs of this change in the food production system been counted? Some weeks ago I reviewed the movie Food Inc. which revealed the issues involved in the way we are producing food. This movie coupled with an earlier one I watched, King Corn, show that simply making food that is apparently cheaper and more plentiful should not be the only goal we are to have. I think this is a direct result of the mindset we have garnered from the industrial revolution which is interested more in quantity and profit than in quality and long term affects. By the way neither of those goals, quantity and profit, are in and of themselves, wrong but when the product is sub-standard and in many cases dangerous we need to review our goals. Above I said apparently cheaper on purpose because there are costs that we do not see immediately with food that is engineered and not natural and those costs are to our health and the health of the generations to come.

A few days ago we watched another movie that deals with food and its production called FRESH. As my friend Paul Vaughn put it: “it seems like Fresh, The Movie, is going to be the answer movie and Food, INC. is the movie that highlights all the trouble!” After watching the movie I think he put it very well.

The first part reveals issues with the current food production systems we have and after that we see answers that people are seeking to produce healthy, natural, food. The movie interviews a number of people but focuses on three men more than the others. They are: Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, Russ Kremer a Natural Hog Farmer and Will Allen an Urban Farmer in Milwaukee working with Growing Power.

I have heard Joel Salatin speak before and am always impressed by the principles he uses in farming. Joel shows how his faith influences his methods and thus lead to a truly biblical perspective on dominion as it relates to farming. His methods not only have been able to produce healthy food but have also been able to sustain him. If his ideas on farming interest you I would suggest his book You Can Farm.

Russ Kremer shares how he used to raise hogs and have to continually inject them with antibiotics to keep them healthy (relative term) and then one day he was injured by one of them and got an infection that almost led him to lose his leg because it was resistant to regular drugs. After this event he realized he could not sell meat, such as he was then producing, to the public and decided to raise natural hogs. Instead of slowly heading in that direction he eliminated his herd and started over.

Will Allen teaches others how to grow food on a small parcel of land in the city of Milwaukee. He shares how he raises a large amount of food for such a small space without the use of chemicals. In doing this he is trying to motivate others to do as he does.

In the movie there are others that are interviewed including a husband and wife that raise chickens for a large company. What you see in the mass raising of chickens should make you think twice about the chicken you eat. Not only because of the quality of the food but also in how the chickens are treated in raising them for food.

I would hope in seeing this film you will not only see the problem at hand but that it will inspire you to eat better and make healthier choices. This movie is being distributed differently than many other movies and you can check their web site to see where you can view it or you can also buy a copy to show to others yourself.

I have mentioned Paul Vaughn of Vaughnshire Farm earlier and I look forward to his review of this film as he is not only a proponent of sustainable agriculture but actually is in the midst of farming himself.

So find this movie near you or show it yourself, lets begin to change the food market. Remember a basic principle of economics is that it is the consumer that dictates what is produced. This may be difficult and initially costly but the end result is well worth it.

Watch the trailer to Fresh the Movie below and when the first trailer is over click on more to see the other 3 trailers.

Food, Inc. Movie Review

Well we just got back from seeing the release of the movie Food, Inc.. I have had a couple trailers up over the last month or so, here and here, but did not know the movie was coming to our area until today.

This is an important movie to see as the food we eat is becoming increasingly less natural and more genetically engineered. In the movie food is even referred to as being both technologically and scientifically advanced, I am not sure that is how we should refer to our food. As believers we need to watch this movie from a biblical worldview with regards to creation, the nature of man and government. We need to see our place in the creation order and our part of the dominion mandate not to destroy and genetically engineer food but to care for it and use it as God intended.

What needs to be taken away is the fact that the food we eat is not what we think it is and there is great effort made to keep it that way. However unlike the movies conclusions the answer is not more government regulations but better choices by people, although they do speak to the affect people can have. It is actually interesting that the movie both seeks for government regulation and at the same time blames the government for the problem. Their conclusions seem to stem from a view that takes the responsibility from man and places it on government.

However, I think the movie shows the opposite as it is the government control and access into the food industry that has brought many of the issues we have. At the same time they show how we as the consumer can effect changes as they show Wal-Mart making changes in the milk they sell. The truth is that government control in the end will stifle the growth of healthy food by the small farmer rather then help them. It is we the consumer that needs to seek food that is not simply labeled as organic or healthy but is truly what it is clamed to be.

The comments by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm are great and he relates that healthy food can be produced without destroying the land and abusing animals. He shows that humane treatment of animals does not negate the use of them for food but instead seeks to be stewards of those animals as God’s creation while they are being raised. He comments that even if natural food is slightly more expensive it will in the end be less expensive when one takes into account being healthier. I would also add that if the government was not subsidizing the GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) taxes may be less and then there would be more money to spend on healthy food.

So go and see the movie, make better decisions about food, and be part of changing this world for God’s glory while being the stewards of the creation that God has placed us over.

Here is the trailer I posted earlier:

Another Trailer for Food, Inc.

At my post, Fresh the Movie, I had some video trailers concerning the food we eat. Below is another trailer for the upcoming movie Food, Inc.

If you haven’t checked out the trailers for the other movies, King Corn, Fresh the Movie and a previous trailer for Food, Inc., at my previous post they are well worth viewing.

Fresh the Movie

Paul Vaughn placed this movie trailer for Fresh the Movie on his blog: Vaughnshire Farm. This looks like a good movie that reveals not only the downside to our current food production methods but the hope there is in doing things a different way. The truth is the different way is probably in reality more like doing it the old way. Another good move along these lines to see is King Corn which shows the problems with today’s corn production and usage.

Watch the trailer to Fresh the Movie below and when the first trailer is over click on “more” to see the other 3 trailers.



Here is the King Corn trailer:



Here is a trailer for another documentary on food that is coming out in June called Food, Inc