Farmageddon

This weekend Graham and I took a much more casual approach to the kitchen than in past weeks/weekends.  We didn’t tell ourselves that we HAD to get anything specific done, we just both worked on things that we WANTED to get done.  I will be sharing pictures this week of some of the progress!

But, this approach to the kitchen made for a very calm weekend, which we both needed!

However, on Saturday night we decided to take a break from it all and watch a movie.  One feature we love about Charter cable is their “On Demand” feature where you can “rent” movies.  It is just so much more convenient than actually going to the video store.

I do not know how we stumbled upon the movie, “Farmageddon”, but of course we decided to check it out.  Anything farm related and Graham says, “oh heck yes” to checking it out.

Farmageddon is a documentary based movie that featured stories of small, family owned farms that have been raided by local governments.  By raided, I mean literally raided…with guns drawn {and pointed in some instances} and SWAT team members in black vests.  Yes, that kind of raided. 

The reason they were being raided?  They were selling raw milk or they were giving food {that they had grown} to their neighbors without proper licensing.

I get both sides to this story.  I get the government trying to keep people safe in what they consume.  But I also see the small farmer’s side – they are being held to the same rules and regulations as a large scale operation when in reality they are completely different {and should have a different set of rules and regulations}. 

How can a farmer raising forty, free range chickens be held to the same type of rules as a chicken slaughterhouse raising four thousand chickens?  In my opinion, there is much more of a risk for contamination in the slaughterhouse simply because of the way the chickens are raised {in tight quarters most often living amongst their own feces}.  So, a farm such as this should follow a certain set of regulations to keep Americans consuming the food grown safe. 

I do understand, however, that there are also risks associated with small scale farming, but I believe them to be of a different nature {and on a different scale} and it would make sense to have different rules and regulations dependent upon the farm’s operational size.

I also see the consumer’s side as a part of this story {the side that wants to buy raw milk or eat food grown by their neighbor even if the government deems this type of food to be “risky”}.  As Americans, we currently have the right to choose to eat foods that also have risks {sushi, or raw fish, being a good example, but also the choice to eat processed, chemically filled food}.  Therefore, why can’t we have the choice to drink raw milk or eat radishes from the next door neighbor’s garden?  I am not saying that I would choose to drink raw milk, but I would like the choice to do so whether or not I wanted to.

I did really like the documentary because it made me continue to think about the issues even after the movie credits were rolling.  A couple of very interesting points were made that have really left me thinking about my own food choices, consumption, and purchases.

One of the farmers featured was a small organic farm.  The farmer grows leafy greens and sells them at the local farmer’s market.  This is her only source of income.  But, she doesn’t farm simply because of the money.  She farms to provide healthy food options to feed America. 

The point this farmer made, as a part of the documentary, was that she thought it was ridiculous that she has to spend literally HOURS upon HOURS filling out paperwork simply to be certified as organic {something that a lot of consumers WANT}.  She hated the fact that instead of growing MORE healthy food, she had to fill out paperwork {she stated the stack of papers is three inches high…that is a lot of paperwork!} 

The farmer continued to say that she didn’t mind extra inspections, another aspect of being classified as organic, she said she is happy to be inspected at anytime.  What bothered her was that instead of spending time growing more organic products for consumption, she has to fill out extra paperwork just to be able to say “This product ONLY contains spinach”. 

She felt that instead of forcing small organic farmers to take extra time filling out mundane paperwork, just to be able to list ONLY spinach on their products, large scale producers should have to fill out extra paper work to HAVE TO list all of the chemicals they sprayed on their food.

This point really made me go, hmmmmm…I wondered “Would organic, healthier food be less expensive if we didn’t require the farmers to spend so much of their time just to say they grew a fresh leafy green?” 

In continuing with that same thought process, if we required large scale operations to jump through as many hoops and require they list all the chemicals used in growing, instead of organic famers having to do all of this, would unhealthy food become the “luxury” {as they would need to increase the price to account for the extra work} and result in a healthier America as healthy food options, instead, become the norm?  Just some food for thought for you, compliments of me!

In the end, this documentary really made me appreciate {even more} all of the hard work my husband and his parents are putting into farming to feed Americans {such as myself} who would just like to be able to choose healthy.  It reinforces my belief in supporting local farmers as much as I possibly can!  Hopefully my thoughts here {or maybe you check out Farmageddon for yourself} will cause you to think about your beliefs in feeding you and your family.

Cheers!