Food, Inc
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Has anyone seen this movie ? I am reading the book. I'd love to get some info on how bad the food industry is in Australia, compared to the USA, where it's plainly shot to hell. I've always known that. I get ill every time I am in the US, and even eating at good restaurants, I find I need to go to the toilet 10 times a day instead of once. I've been in to growing our own organic food for years, but I've never really read on how bad the industrial system is before.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
My wife just saw it (I fell asleep after 20 minutes), now she cannot stomach the thought of eating meat. I suspect this will last until ....mmm easter :rolleyes: . For some reason I seem immune to the gross out factor. I understand it's not pretty industry. However, I believe things not likely to change in the near future due to the potential increased costs associated with tighter regulation. The almighty dollar will always prevail. I also have a healthy skepticism for food labelled 'organic'. My wife will purchase 'organic' food when available. I for some reason (I have no proof) have a feeling that there are immense loopholes in the organic industry which allows for the distribution of food that's exactly the same food as non-organic for a usually much higher price. Like I said I have no proof, but I feel there's way too much money to be made BSing the public with 'organic, 'free range' labels.
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If you need an Irony Emoticon to get the Irony then you have no sense of Irony and it would be wasted!
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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fat_boy wrote:
But then again I guess I grew up drinking water from streams when thirsty which I hear gives one a good immune system.
Good point: I also think that people born in the 50s/60s and maybe the 70s were the last generation in the west that were born and raised with 'organic' food as the norm since there were few supermarkets and not much processed food to buy. My mum used to walk to the local farm to get milk, butter and eggs. Mind you, that was in 1863! :-)
me, me, me "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!" Larry Niven
digital man wrote:
I also think that people born in the 50s/60s and maybe the 70s were the last generation in the west that were born and raised with 'organic' food as the norm since there were few supermarkets and not much processed food to buy
I dont recall too much but there wernt the bis supermarkets around so I guess fresh produce (there was a cash and carry for bulk processed food) came from the butcher/greengrocer. WOUldnt say it was necessarially organic though. I think lots of pesticides and fertilizers were in use in my youth. (Given all the noise made about DDT and so on)
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
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digital man wrote:
I also think that people born in the 50s/60s and maybe the 70s were the last generation in the west that were born and raised with 'organic' food as the norm since there were few supermarkets and not much processed food to buy
I dont recall too much but there wernt the bis supermarkets around so I guess fresh produce (there was a cash and carry for bulk processed food) came from the butcher/greengrocer. WOUldnt say it was necessarially organic though. I think lots of pesticides and fertilizers were in use in my youth. (Given all the noise made about DDT and so on)
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
fat_boy wrote:
I think lots of pesticides and fertilizers were in use in my youth
Maybe that was what made the food so good? :-)
me, me, me "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!" Larry Niven
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If you need an Irony Emoticon to get the Irony then you have no sense of Irony and it would be wasted!
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Okay. Well it was lost on me. Wouldn't be the first time. :)
That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_
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My wife just saw it (I fell asleep after 20 minutes), now she cannot stomach the thought of eating meat. I suspect this will last until ....mmm easter :rolleyes: . For some reason I seem immune to the gross out factor. I understand it's not pretty industry. However, I believe things not likely to change in the near future due to the potential increased costs associated with tighter regulation. The almighty dollar will always prevail. I also have a healthy skepticism for food labelled 'organic'. My wife will purchase 'organic' food when available. I for some reason (I have no proof) have a feeling that there are immense loopholes in the organic industry which allows for the distribution of food that's exactly the same food as non-organic for a usually much higher price. Like I said I have no proof, but I feel there's way too much money to be made BSing the public with 'organic, 'free range' labels.
jeron1 wrote:
I also have a healthy skepticism for food labelled 'organic'.
Me too. Until someone can define exactly what it means, it will mean close to nothing. I prefer to grow my own food, and where possible, deal with small local suppliers where I know what 'organic' means. But, I'll tell you for sure that most small farmers spray more chemicals than the big boys, because the big boys at least try to do it economically, the small guy just keeps spraying to make sure it works.
jeron1 wrote:
I for some reason (I have no proof) have a feeling that there are immense loopholes in the organic industry which allows for the distribution of food that's exactly the same food as non-organic for a usually much higher price.
No, in the US, organic is tied to a set of standards which your organic industry actually lobbied to have made more strict and harder to follow. But in Australia, there is no such standard that I know of.
jeron1 wrote:
Like I said I have no proof, but I feel there's way too much money to be made BSing the public with 'organic, 'free range' labels.
According to the books I've read, organic is more tightly controlled in the US, although I still would agree that if people can get away with the label, they will try to.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Christian Graus wrote:
even eating at good restaurants
You mean like IHop? or Jack-in-the-Box? :-) (Actually, I love IHop: you just can't beat the breakfast. Especially for dinner). Your body has to get used to the change in food, water and the environment. Also depends on your own constitution: sounds like yours is quite delicate: it never really bothers me... but then I'll eat pretty much anything. In any case, there are no good restaurants in the US. They have some pretty mediocre ones and NY has one or 2 passable restaurants but that's about it. Maybe that's why I like IHop or Ted's Montana Grill or Fat Burger or, the best, Cheese Cake Factory/Grand Luxe Cafe: you always know what you're going to get.
me, me, me "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!" Larry Niven
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jeron1 wrote:
I also have a healthy skepticism for food labelled 'organic'.
Me too. Until someone can define exactly what it means, it will mean close to nothing. I prefer to grow my own food, and where possible, deal with small local suppliers where I know what 'organic' means. But, I'll tell you for sure that most small farmers spray more chemicals than the big boys, because the big boys at least try to do it economically, the small guy just keeps spraying to make sure it works.
jeron1 wrote:
I for some reason (I have no proof) have a feeling that there are immense loopholes in the organic industry which allows for the distribution of food that's exactly the same food as non-organic for a usually much higher price.
No, in the US, organic is tied to a set of standards which your organic industry actually lobbied to have made more strict and harder to follow. But in Australia, there is no such standard that I know of.
jeron1 wrote:
Like I said I have no proof, but I feel there's way too much money to be made BSing the public with 'organic, 'free range' labels.
According to the books I've read, organic is more tightly controlled in the US, although I still would agree that if people can get away with the label, they will try to.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
My experience with Organic in the US is that it is the same as the regular produce. If you buy it out of season it is crap. My wife spends crazy amounts of money on Organic and most of the "fresh" fruits and veg are next to un-eatable. The problem with local organic is that people expect the fruit and veg to be perfect and unblemished and therefore most of it goes in the bin. Driving the price up in the process. The fancy chefs say we eat with out eyes but we should shop with our brains and not our eyes!
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My experience with Organic in the US is that it is the same as the regular produce. If you buy it out of season it is crap. My wife spends crazy amounts of money on Organic and most of the "fresh" fruits and veg are next to un-eatable. The problem with local organic is that people expect the fruit and veg to be perfect and unblemished and therefore most of it goes in the bin. Driving the price up in the process. The fancy chefs say we eat with out eyes but we should shop with our brains and not our eyes!
Joe Simes wrote:
If you buy it out of season it is crap.
If you buy out of season, you HAVE to be buying stuff that's flown a long way. I never buy out of season. I don't eat tomatoes I have not grown.
Joe Simes wrote:
The problem with local organic is that people expect the fruit and veg to be perfect and unblemished and therefore most of it goes in the bin. Driving the price up in the process.
Yes, that is a part of the whole problem, real fruit and veg can be all sorts of shapes. I personally love growing white carrots, black tomatoes, etc.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Joe Simes wrote:
If you buy it out of season it is crap.
If you buy out of season, you HAVE to be buying stuff that's flown a long way. I never buy out of season. I don't eat tomatoes I have not grown.
Joe Simes wrote:
The problem with local organic is that people expect the fruit and veg to be perfect and unblemished and therefore most of it goes in the bin. Driving the price up in the process.
Yes, that is a part of the whole problem, real fruit and veg can be all sorts of shapes. I personally love growing white carrots, black tomatoes, etc.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
I personally love growing white carrots, black tomatoes, etc.
I read somewhere that carrots were not naturally orange. That the plant dudes (would that be botanists) in the Netherlands turned them orange for ... William of Orange. I'm not sure if that is a fairy tale or not. But Wiki-whats-it says that carrots were originally yellow and red. And who would have though that Queen Anne's lace is really a carrot!! Wild Carrots[^]
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Christian Graus wrote:
I personally love growing white carrots, black tomatoes, etc.
I read somewhere that carrots were not naturally orange. That the plant dudes (would that be botanists) in the Netherlands turned them orange for ... William of Orange. I'm not sure if that is a fairy tale or not. But Wiki-whats-it says that carrots were originally yellow and red. And who would have though that Queen Anne's lace is really a carrot!! Wild Carrots[^]
We have purple carrots too, which are orange in the middle. I've wondered if that's their original color. They all taste good, there's no real taste difference I can see between them, I just like a variety of colors on the plate. Silverbeet is the same.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Christian Graus wrote:
unhealthy industrial food
Aren't you the one screwing, er, shearing your own sheep? :laugh:
You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.