When I was a little girl, the only vegetable I would look at was corn. I thought it was delicious, and when I added butter and salt to it, my love for this golden nuggett deepened. In fairness, the corn I grew up eating 50 years ago, does not exist now. I ate corn that grew only during the summer near my house. If corn was available at the grocery store, it came in a kind of small tactor wagon load right from the local farm. Yum.
Fifty years later - I have changed, and so has corn. The corn we eat now (by the way, corn is a grain, not a vegetable) has been genetically modified to resist chemical pesitcides (one, in particular called Round-Up, by Monsanto Corporation) and fertilizers. No one knows for sure yet, what all the consequences of eating genetically modified foods might be. What we do know, among other things, is that one of the by-products of this genetically modified corn, high-fructose corn syrup, is everywhere, and it seems to be playing a huge part in the obesity epidemic that is sweeping North America. There is a wonderful film, King Korn, that I highly recommend to educate yourself about corn and the "modern" methods and motives for farming it. And, of course, I have recommended Food, Inc. in the past. I encourage you to find a way to see these films, to continue to learn about the North American food supply.
But now, another film has come along that takes the investigation a step further. If genetically modified foods are not healthy to consume, isn't that bad enough? Apparently not.
I am posting a link here to a trailer for a brand new film, Big River, which looks at the underbelly of agribusiness, and follows the run-off from the planting of one acre of corn, and tracks the soil, fertilizer and pesticides downstream, through cancer clusters in Iowa to a Louisiana "dead zone."
The problems with mainstream mass marketing of the North American food supply go far beyond making our bellies fat. Perhaps, until now, we didn't know the long-term problems this system has been causing. With the help of film makers like Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, now we know. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the malnourishment of our children, grandchildren, and beyond, for the sake of our mealtime convenience. Nor can we exchange quick meal solutions for an unhealthy ecology. This simply can not go on without dire consequences to our health and the health of the rest of the planet.
When I wrote GOOD FOOD, I thought long and hard about the title. Food, I thought, must be good in three ways. It has to look good, it has to taste good, and it has to be good for me. I have now added a 4th "good" criteria. The food I prepare, eat, and feed my family, has to be good for the generations of my family who follow me here.
Please see these films. Pleade with your local video store to stock them if they don't already.
Just think. If enough of us demand real, organically grown, healthy food, maybe someday our children or grandchildren, or at least their children or grandchildren, might enjoy a healthy and delicious ear of corn in the summertime.
Fifty years later - I have changed, and so has corn. The corn we eat now (by the way, corn is a grain, not a vegetable) has been genetically modified to resist chemical pesitcides (one, in particular called Round-Up, by Monsanto Corporation) and fertilizers. No one knows for sure yet, what all the consequences of eating genetically modified foods might be. What we do know, among other things, is that one of the by-products of this genetically modified corn, high-fructose corn syrup, is everywhere, and it seems to be playing a huge part in the obesity epidemic that is sweeping North America. There is a wonderful film, King Korn, that I highly recommend to educate yourself about corn and the "modern" methods and motives for farming it. And, of course, I have recommended Food, Inc. in the past. I encourage you to find a way to see these films, to continue to learn about the North American food supply.
But now, another film has come along that takes the investigation a step further. If genetically modified foods are not healthy to consume, isn't that bad enough? Apparently not.
I am posting a link here to a trailer for a brand new film, Big River, which looks at the underbelly of agribusiness, and follows the run-off from the planting of one acre of corn, and tracks the soil, fertilizer and pesticides downstream, through cancer clusters in Iowa to a Louisiana "dead zone."
The problems with mainstream mass marketing of the North American food supply go far beyond making our bellies fat. Perhaps, until now, we didn't know the long-term problems this system has been causing. With the help of film makers like Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, now we know. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the malnourishment of our children, grandchildren, and beyond, for the sake of our mealtime convenience. Nor can we exchange quick meal solutions for an unhealthy ecology. This simply can not go on without dire consequences to our health and the health of the rest of the planet.
When I wrote GOOD FOOD, I thought long and hard about the title. Food, I thought, must be good in three ways. It has to look good, it has to taste good, and it has to be good for me. I have now added a 4th "good" criteria. The food I prepare, eat, and feed my family, has to be good for the generations of my family who follow me here.
Please see these films. Pleade with your local video store to stock them if they don't already.
Just think. If enough of us demand real, organically grown, healthy food, maybe someday our children or grandchildren, or at least their children or grandchildren, might enjoy a healthy and delicious ear of corn in the summertime.
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