FrC 13E

Ungraded assignment for Mon. 4/15: responses
 
 

When the Tyson farmer was discussing his chickens, he says "If you could grow a chicken in 39 days, why would you want to do it in 3 months?" How would you guys answer this question after seeing the movie? How does that compare to any previous thoughts about this topic?—KW

Although many of us think that the way Tyson produces chicken is immoral, the Tyson farmer said that all of the chicken farms have helped his local community a lot from a financial aspect. Do the financial benefits negate the way in which the chickens are produced?—RS

In 'fast food to all food' a man talks about the chicken houses being an economic boost to his area. However, later in the section it shows that the average chicken grower only makes 18,000 dollars a year. Is this a mechanism for the dissipation of the middle class in our economy?—LK

Q: Why do you guys think that Tyson would not let their farmers show what goes on in the chicken coops?—ER

Does the fact that fast food companies make so much money selling to the general public make it morally right for them to knowingly sell this low quality food to us?—RA

In the part where we see the story of the boy died from the E.coli due to the burger he ate, the mother said that the industry is more protected than her son. What do you think of this? Does the food industry now too focus on its benefits and neglect the consumer's rights? Is there anything the government should do to the problems mentioned throughout the movie?—KT

Several times throughout the movie, and in particular with story of the Latino family, price was mentioned as being one of the biggest causes of a person's choice of food. How much is too much for healthy food?—KM

I would like to discuss the farmer that did his whole operation in a much healthier way, but nearly got in trouble for it because the USDA thought it was unsanitary.—JB

To clarify, does Monsanto really have the right to sue farmers if they save their Monsanto bought seeds for the next season? If so, is this only unfair because Monsanto is a monopoly?—JP

My question comes from the portion of the movie that regarded labeling food items to indicate if they contain cloned organisms. The woman who was defending this claimed that labeling food items as cloned will unnecessarily scare the public and that by not labeling them, we are protecting the public. What do you think about this? Is it ever acceptable to keep the public in the dark?—CD

This film's tagline is "Hungry for change?" Could this documentary change the way you eat or what you eat?—BH

Does the documentary influence your eating habits?—SC

How much did this film change your views on what you eat?—SM

Film segments:

Fast Food to All Food

A Cornucopia of Choices

Unintended Consequences

The Dollar Menu

In the Grass

Hidden Costs

From Seed to the Supermarket

The Veil

Shocks to the System

conclusion

Some of the people appearing:

Eric Schlosser Author, Fast Food Nation
Richard Lobb National Chicken Council
Vince Edwards Tyson Grower
Carole Morison Perdue Grower
Michael Pollan Author, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Troy Roush Vice President, American Corn Growers Association
Larry Johnson Center for Crops Utilization Research, Iowa State University
Allen Trenkle Ruminant Nutrition Expert, Iowa State University
Barbara Kowalcyk Food Safety Advocate
Patricia Buck Food Safety Advocate, Barbara’s Mom
Diana DeGette Representative, Colorado
Phil English Representative, Pennsylvania, Co-Sponsor of Kevin’s Law
Eldon Roth Founder of BPI
Maria Andrea Gonzalez Mother
Rosa Soto California Center for Public Health Advocacy
Joel Salatin Polyface Farms Owner
Eduardo Peña Union Organizer
Gary Hirshberg CEO, Stonyfield Farm (also archive footage)
Amanda Ellis-Thurber Organic Farmer
Tony Airoso Wal-Mart’s Chief Dairy Purchaser
Moe Parr Seed Cleaner
David Runyon Farmer
Stephen R. Pennell Moe’s Lawyer
William P. Kealey