I know for a fact that my mindset about what is food, and where I get my food from has shifted rapidly in this course, no pun intended. I've learned so much about the harsh injustices of the mechanized and hyper-industrialized food industry. I can't believe that not only processed foods are put on the conveyor belt and shipped so inhumanely; somehow, it's almost like everything from vegetable to animal suffers in this fast paced environment and we appear to have no intention in stopping it. My consciousness about the food industry makes me a bit squeamish and makes me feel appalled, I feel that it's only right for us to eat other living being, only if their death was respectful and as painless as possible. I've changed my diet around to compensate for such feeling; I eat more organically when possible, and I've convinced my parents, mostly because my mom loves animals, that we eat from approved farm sources where the animals don't have to suffer as they do in their factory cages.
If I had went back four years ago in my life with this knowledge I have currently, it goes without saying that I would have changed my entire diet. I wouldn't have the gall to consume processed foods, and I would have taught myself how to cook tastier, more filling meals back then, besides the common egg and ramen I was accustomed to. I would have made sure my parents understood that'd I would only eat from cruelty free labels and that no other source would be efficient for my diet. My dad is a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to food, whatever he can afford, most often at the cheapest price, would suffice. But, I would have tried my damnedest to persuade him to think about the treatment of these animals rather than solely money-we were tight on money in those days, but I think there would have been a probably compromise between the two of us.
If I had to change the food industry in one way, I would have to say that I would have insects added to the world's distributors of food. This would most likely raise the prices of beef and chicken, thusly improving their treatment, while the lower class would be able to feed on this new chain of food. Insects seem to be far more healthy than what meats we consume as of today-they have far less fats and cholesterols than pork, beef, and even chicken, and to that fact, they also come with a smaller price tag. This could very likely reset the poor dieting in the United States, as well as first world countries; it would destroy the incentive to only eat cheap and heavily processed junk food, and to consume much more healthy, and in many people's opinions, much tastier alternatives. The variety as of now of what you can buy on the internet such as crickets or meal worms is stunning; sour cream and onion flavored crickets, baked not fried, and barbecue mealets are just some of the odd, yet fascinatingly delicious foods that could substitute for the chips that everyone seems to buy, day-to-day, in corner stores across the country. The addition of insects, would revolutionize not only the food industry, but the health of every nation across the planet.
It's pretty fortunate that your parents are so open to requests like that about food. My father scoffs at the word organic and probably couldn't care less if the cow that died to make his burger died quickly or was tossed live into an operating meat grinder. It seems as if I'll have to wait until I'm living on my own before I can make the shift to more conscious eating. As for the insects thing, I'm all for it. It's a trend that's already spreading to the developed world. I might be one of the last folks to catch on. Even the feeling of squishing bugs underfoot makes me shudder, I can't imagine how chewing one might feel. Thankfully, there are products like cricket flour that allow you to add the protein and nutrients that come along with insects to other food. (What would factories look like if we commercialized crickets instead of beef?)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete