Pie Palace

I saw Food, Inc at the Bytowne over the weekend. For those who don’t travel in hippie circles, it’s this summer’s blockbuster lefty documentary, brimming with the such granola celebs as the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan¹ and Eric Schlosser (author of the excellent Fast Food Nation).

The gist of the documentary is pretty straight forward: our food supply has gone industrial, with almost all forms of food production being done in vast factories. The industrial process creates cheap unhealthy food, pushes small producers out of business, and has potentially fatal side effects (notably e. coli and salmonella poisoning for consumers). On top of that, the companies that do the processing act like bullies: litigating against farmers who attempt to save part of their crop to plant the following year, suing anyone who openly speaks against their products, and lobbying various legislatures to pass consumer-unfriendly legislation. Special attention is paid to Monsanto, everyone’s favourite corporate Big Brother.

Ironically enough, Food Inc also paints large corporations as our potential saviors from this economic and health nightmare: they talk to the entrepreneur that started Stonyfield Farm² who gives a wonderfully cogent explanation of why companies can actually produce good food, and why companies aren’t necessarily bad. They even end up painting Wal-Mart as part of the solution. (I hope that the NDP listen to their new golden boy, Darrell Dexter and integrate this idea into their world view – but that’s a topic for another post)

Do I recommend it? Yes. But with a caveat.

If you haven’t read Fast Food Nation, the Omnivores Dilemma, or any of the other books on modern food production, then I highly recommend this documentary. It’s informative and engaging without being overly depressing. Perhaps most importantly, it ends on a fairly positive note: we aren’t as screwed as all this sounds – as consumers, we have the corporations who have built this system under our control. We can vote with our dollars, and vote with our feet. Industrial production methods can be reformed to produce healthy, tasty, and safe food.

Now, if you have read one or more of those books, and are up on the vague shape of the American (and Canadian) food production systems, then I still recommend this movie, but not as glowingly. It doesn’t bring a great deal of new information to the table, but it does give a succinct reminder for why you’re doing what you do. I’ve been falling off the conscientious objector train recently – I’ve stopped going to the farmer’s market, I’ve stopped trying to buy locally grown stuff, and I’ve been buying more and more junk food. The end of this doc was a not so subtle hint that I really should be paying an extra dollar or two for my grub, so long as it goes to the right people and supports a production system that has to get back to the main stream.

Overall? go see it. Seriously.

Images from Food, Inc website and wikipedia, respectively. Used without permission.

1. Okay, I don’t know if Michael Pollan is a real hippie celebrity, since I haven’t read his book. He may be a seal clubber in his spare time, for all I know. (back)
2. Makers of fantastic yoghurt, and with some legitimately green cred. (back)

My fiancé’s mp3 player died last month, and mine is on its last legs¹. Since my lady love is a bit of a technophobe, I started looking into iPods. One of the first stories I ran across when I was looking into them was about the suicide of Sun Danyong – an employee of one of Apple’s suppliers. The guy had apparently lost an iPhone prototype and then been subjected to a week of abuse at the hands of his employer, Foxconn. He then committed suicide.

When I buy stuff, I try to keep to the ethically made goods. I buy fair trade when possible, and I avoid products that don’t have a fair trade option. But because iPods have a reputation for usability and my sweetie deserves the best, I crafted this letter to Apple’s PR contacts.

Dear Ms. Cotton and Mr. Atkins,

I’m in the market for a new MP3 player. Before I buy an Apple gadget, I’d like to know what Apple is doing to ensure that its suppliers are treating their workers well. The ongoing coverage of Sun Danyong’s abuse and subsequent suicide has me reconsidering Apple products.

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I don’t expect Apple to get a TransFair certification any time soon, but I can at least ask if they’re doing anything.

1. I don’t recommend Creative Labs Zens. When shifting off of “Lock” mine occasionally cranks the volume to 100% or 0% percent and locks up. Alternately painful or annoying. (back)