Food, Inc.

[Katy]

Quote:
So why do the illegals keep coming here to work? Because even if it's not always the best of conditions or wages, it's still way better than what they had at home!!! I don't believe that any one is putting a gun to their head and making them come here. They come because there are, despite what some people say, a whole slew of jobs that no one here wants to do anymore and they are willing to come and do them!! My working conditions stink a lot of times too. Driving grain trucks with no AC when the heat index is 110+, going out to check heifers who are calving when the windchill is way below zero, working out side when you can't hardly stand up because of the wind. Do I always enjoy it...no, but that is the job we have chosen to pursue and believe me we don't make much doing it either a good portion of the time...in fact it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the illegals probably don't have a bigger paycheck than we do!!

I agree with you... nobody wants to work those jobs under those conditions. But, if you stop these illegals coming in and start cracking down on the companies that hire them then you will get workers to fill their spots.... legal americans that need a paycheck. There are millions of hard working americans in this country that would gladly take their place.

You know what though?.... If these companies lost all of their cheap labor... than what? They would have to take a little bit from the billions of profit they make each year and pay better wages. That's as simple as it gets. Money in this country talks... you pay better you get more people interested. And when I say pay better I mean go from $7.50 an hour to $9.50 an hour. That's not killing the industry by raising their wages by $2.00 an hour? Come on would you want to work at those place for $7.50 an hour?

I doubt you make less then they do because the labor providers or temp agencies that bring these workers to the plants get thier cut too! So in reality they workers are making close to $5.75 an hour. That amount of money goes a long way in Mexico though. These workers have no rights.... period. They can't negotiate wages or even complain about their being no toilet paper in the bathrooms. Basically if you talk or raise a fuss, your replaced. Simple as that.

I've been doing some figuring ...... I'm not going to share with cyber space what our income is but after all the farm expenses come off on an average farm year,you might be interested to know that for me and my husband's long hours in the field and with the cow herd, the illegals do make more than us per hour if they're making $5.75 per hour. I still wouldn't trade my job for another tho.

 

[Criskin]

Quote:
I like the idea of Community Supported Agriculture. I hadn't heard about it until recently. We have a local organic meat and produce provider who does this. According to the website http://www.farmgirlfood.com/chevon.html

"CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. In return for the financial contribution of its members, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it. "

I think they are having quite a bit of luck with the program. It's really encouraging to see people going out of their way to change things. So far my commitment to avoid factory farmed stuff is getting a little flock of chickens, planting fruit trees and and growing a vegetable garden, all of which I'm ashamed to say I wouldn't have done if I didn't find it enjoyable.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I think they are having quite a bit of luck with the program. It's really encouraging to see people going out of their way to change things. So far my commitment to avoid factory farmed stuff is getting a little flock of chickens, planting fruit trees and and growing a vegetable garden, all of which I'm ashamed to say I wouldn't have done if I didn't find it enjoyable

This is a really good start. If a lot more people did this.... that would be a huge change in its on. Even with taking 5% away from the big food corporations these big companies are very upset about it. They are greedy and want 100% of the population to buy their products.

If people started doing this more often these companies would squirm in their seats... Eventually the will have to give into customer demand. Not that factory farming is going to disappear.... they way they do it may change.​

 

[PotterWatch]

It can happen even in very urban areas. I am involved in a community garden. We buy some produce from a local farm that runs a CSA, though we are not part of the CSA. Any given week, I could go to as many as seven farmers markets within a 15min. drive of my house. The hardest part is getting people to realize that these options exist.

It doesn't help when grocery stores put up signs on their produce that say Locally Grown but in truth it isn't. I went to Vons the other day and they had locally grown tags on quite a few different bins of produce. I was thrilled to see so much local food available to me. When I saw the apples though, I wondered a little since I know my apples aren't ready yet. I asked the person in charge and he said "Well, these ones are from Washington and these are from New Zealand... we get the local ones in a few more weeks". So they slap local signs around the produce section, but it really means nothing. I'm sticking to the farmers market people I know.

 

[Nikki28]

Wow that's alot of talk before the movie even came out! I liked it because it WAS evenly discussed it never said to stop buying from meat and dairy producers or anything to that effect. It discussed the big guys and how they often take the cheap and easy out. It also showed good businesses that produce food that is sold in the stores. It wasn't against business just the poorly run greedy ones which have been a known issue long before this documentary. I'm thinking the forum thing isn't for me.

 

[AmyRey]

Okay, I think I have noted every single book mentioned in this thread and have placed holds for all of them at my local library.

Very thought-provoking topic.

And the only thing I'll add is that I've come to conclude a couple of things over the last few months:
1. Anyone who has the slightest bit of a soul will have their conscience immediately awakened by even the briefest glance into the workings of factory farms and the meat/dairy industries.
2. I'm grateful beyond words to live in an area where I at least have options other than grocery-store animal products.
3. Ignorance really was bliss.

 

[cmjust0]

Maybe someone has already covered this, but be vigilant when you shop at "farmers' markets." My wife and I participate in a really, really tiny farmers' market that's 100% producer-only, so we've become somewhat familiar with other markets' swindles..

Most of your bigger, busier farmers' markets aren't producer only, which means the "farmer" you're buying from may very well have backed his box truck up to a loading dock somewhere a few days before -- right beside a truck bound for your grocery chain -- and loaded up all his "fresh produce" from who knows where. He's selling you the same gassed tomatoes you'd buy at the store....you're just paying more.

For a good lesson, go to a farmers' market really early in your area's growing season and see what's available...red, vine-ripened tomatoes in early June in Kentucky simply don't exist. Big plump ears of sweetcorn full of fully-ripened kernels on July 4th? Not gonna happen.. Canatloupe in the middle of June? Dream on..

People don't know enough about seasons to realize it, though, and they get taken for a ride.... They go to a farmer's market and get sold an experience -- not fresh produce.

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
At the market I go to they clearly differentiate between locally grown and non-locally grown. Here in PA, if I see citrus fruits or bananas for sale, I would not think "locally grown". But you are right, not everything at a farmer's market is local. You have to be savvy there just like everywhere else.