Reflection: Weeks 5 & 6

The last two weeks have been informative to say the least...
During week 5 we watched a movie called "The Future of Food".  This movie really stirred up a lot of questions for me.  Mostly about patents on nature and GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).  I mean honestly, this movie just made me so mad.  There is so much injustice in the agriculture industry and I had no idea.  My dad is a farmer in North Dakota and it just really hit home for me when I saw that farmer from North Dakota getting sued by Manosato.  It made me sacred for the future of my own family farm.  Something else that really grinds my gears is the fact that foods that have been genetically modified don't have to have that on their label.  Where's the LIABILITY?!  How are we ever going to know if these things have negative effects on our people if we aren't tracking them?  Corporations who push modified food act like it's going to solve world hunger when we know full well that it isn't necessarily lack of food that's the problem, but lack of equality.  There are just so many problems with our world today and thanks to this class many more are brought to my attention all the time.  It's just so frustrating.

For week 6 we watched a film called "Diet for a New America".  It wasn't too long, but it was interesting.  The narrator was the son in line to inherit the Baskin Robbins empire; however, he turned it down after realizing the negative health and environmental effects of the corporation (and many just like it).  He turned down millions, maybe billions, of dollars to stick to his beliefs which I think it pretty amazing.  I don't think I could be that strong.  Some things that stuck with me from this video was the part where they were just pulling this fatty white sausage link looking material out of the arteries of the heart.  GROSS!  It really freaked me out.  What are Americans doing to themselves?  I mean it's our culture.  To eat out, and eat whatever is convenient, cheap, and available in a hurry is our lifestyle.  It's going to take a lot of effort to change an entire nation's lifestyle, but still it's very important that it does change.  Something else shocking was the idea that there are 4 cows for every 1 person in America?  This provokes the question: how much cow is each individual person eating?  I mean, I don't have any exact statistics, but jeeze!  This video definitely forced me to take a look at my own diet and examine some things I might like to change.