Inglourious Food, Inc.

There is just so much goodness to keep us entertained these days. Last night, we watched a greatest hits of SYTYCD show, and it was so inspiring. Those dancers are amazing. I can't decide among the Samba, the disco, the cancer dance or the addiction which one is my favorite. Or maybe it's Neil and Sabra in the office, or Mark and Chelsea dancing to Frozen. Oh, it's just too much goodness. Anyway, that has nothing to do with today's post. I just hope that you, dear reader, have had the privilege of watching these talented artists.
Now, on to other talented artists. T and I went to see Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds last week, and I was hooked from the first scene. Why this movie was not on the top of my priority list the minute it came out I'll never know. Tarantino has yet to let me down. Now, some people may not like talky films; and, if this applies to you, by all means, stay away. The first scene could be thirty minutes long for all I know because the characters talk and talk and talk. But the talking is soooo good. The scene had me a nervous wreck right from the get-go. I think I devoured most of my fingernails in that first act. The rest were gone by the final act.
It is not a perfect movie (but what is a perfect movie?). There are moments in the middle when it gets a little drawn out, but never for long, and there is always a WOW moment coming soon.
I would like to take this opportunity to warn anyone faint of heart who perhaps has not seen a Tarantino film or is living under a rock that this may not be the best introduction to his oeuvre. That is, unless you enjoy watching nazis get scalped. In that case, it may be just the ticket.
Last night, we strolled down to our beloved Living Room Theater for croque monsieurs and bevvies. I enjoyed the seasonal red ale while Tommy had a very potent pomegranate martini. It's rare for Tommy to request extra pomegranate juice, but he did.
We saw the brilliant documentary Food, Inc. Please, please, please go see this movie. Wherever you live, seek out the indie movie theater, and see it ASAP. I thought this was going to be a film to further the vegan agenda, so I went in with trepidation. I am happy to report that I was wrong. It does show some stomach-turning mistreatment of animals in the slaughter factories we so laughingly refer to as "farms," but it also shows the other side--the real honest-to-goodness farmers who are still doing it the old-fashioned way, who have not been bought out or intimidated by the big companies. I found this to be very inspirational, and it was great validation for my spendy shopping habits at the local farmers' market.
They show how food and agriculture has changed drastically over the last fifty years so that our eating habits as a society have been horribly altered. It's no news that fast food, chips and soda are much more affordable these days than fresh fruits and vegetables, even in your local supermarket. Consequently, we are getting fat and unhealthy. Big surprise, right? Well, what WAS a surprise to me is that we truly CAN do something about it.
In the film, they document how Wal-Mart took the initiative to put organics into their grocery aisles and get rid of milk from rBGT-enhanced cows. While Wal-Mart may not be your idea of a healthy food store, their actions put the nail in the coffin of dairy farms using rBGT on their cattle. That's not to say it doesn't still happen, but consumers are aware now and they are not supporting it on the whole. This was a great example of consumers changing the grocery business. Wal-Mart made these changes because people spoke up.
Huge corporations, a very few in fact, now own the factories that produce all our fattened chickens and cows and our abundant crops of corn and soybeans which are used to produce just about everything we buy. They do not create healthy environments for the animals or the workers or the environment. And, certainly, not for the consumers.
People say, sure, we know, but what can we do about it when McDonald's and Doritos and Coke are all affordable items, and a head of lettuce is more than a combo meal? We, as a society, can change that. It won't be a fast change, or a cheap change; but we can change it by choosing to buy locally, knowing where our food comes from, opting for locally grown in-season fruits and vegetables rather than out-of-season chemically-enhanced foods that have flown thousands of miles. Yes, the food at the farmers' market is more expensive than that at Ralph's; but have you tasted it? The difference in flavor and quality is huge! We are lucky enough to have a great local market just around the corner every Thursday, and I am going to be heartbroken when it goes away next month. The peaches, the berries, the lettuce, tomatoes, apples, all taste so much better than what we get in the supermarket. And we are supporting local growers. That food arrives on a truck from a farm just outside of town, not flown in from South America where the workers undoubtedly are not being compensated or cared for properly.
I could go on and on, but I could never get the message across as effectively as Food, Inc. does it. Please go see it. But I suggest eating beforehand.