Food, Inc. Page #9

There have been protests

around the world.

The food crisis has already

brought down one government.

A month doesn't go by

where there isn't

a story in the news

that peels back

the curtain

on how that

industrial food is made.

Downer cows-- too ill or lame to walk--

being brutalized to get them

to their feet for slaughter.

Millions of gallons

of concentrated hog manure

flushing their contents downriver.

Government's food czar reported

that there are no tools

in place to track

the origin of the latest

salmonella outbreak.

Every time one of these

stories comes out,

America learns

a little bit more--

what's going on in the kitchen

where their food is being prepared.

And every time

they turn away in revulsion

and start looking

for alternatives.

The irony is that

the average consumer

does not feel

very powerful.

They think

they are the recipients

of whatever industry

has put out there

for them to consume.

Trust me,

it's the exact opposite.

When we run an item past

the supermarket scanner,

we're voting for local

or not, organic or not.

At Wal-Mart, we made

a decision about a year ago

to go through a process of becoming

rBST-free in our milk supply.

We made that decision based

on customer preference.

Individual consumers

changed the biggest

company on earth

and in so doing,

probably put the last nail

in the coffin

for synthetic

growth hormone.

To eat well

in this country costs more

than to eat badly.

It will take more money

and some people simply

don't have it.

And that's one

of the reasons

that we need changes

at the policy level,

so that the carrots are

a better deal than the chips.

People think

"These companies are so big

and so powerful, how are we ever going

to change things?"

But look at

the tobacco industry.

It had huge control

over public policy

and that control

was broken.

The battle against tobacco

is a perfect model

of how an industry's

irresponsible behavior

can be changed.

Imagine what it would be if,

as a national policy,

we said we would be

only successful

if we had

fewer people going

to the hospital

next year than last year.

How about that

for success?

The idea then

would be to have

such nutritionally dense

unadulterated food

that people who ate it

actually felt better,

had more energy,

and weren't sick as much.

Now see,

that's a noble goal.

I can't change the fact

that Kevin's dead.

When you tell somebody

you've lost a child,

I really don't like

that look of pity

that comes

into their eyes,

that they feel

sorry for me.

I can have a pity party

all by myself very well,

thank you.

I don't need it from other people.

What I need

them to do is listen

and help me

effect a change.

You have to understand

that we farmers,

we're gonna deliver to the marketplace

what the marketplace demands.

If you want

to buy $2 milk,

you're gonna get a feedlot

in the backyard. It's that simple.

People have got

to start demanding

good, wholesome

food of us.

And we'll deliver.

I promise you.

We're very ingenious people.

We'll deliver.

That's all

I had to say.

When I rode that ribbon highway

I saw above me

The endless skyway

I saw below me

The golden valley

Well, this land was made

for you and me

I roamed and rambled

I followed my footsteps

Through

the sparkling sands of

Her diamond deserts

And all around me

A voice was calling

It said "This land was

made for you and me"

This land is your land

This land is my land

From California

To the New York island

From the redwood forests

To the Gulf Stream waters

Well, this land was made

for you and me

Now the sun came shining

And I was strolling

Through wheat fields waving

And dust clouds rolling

And a voice was sounding

As the fog was lifting

It said "This land was

made for you and me"

This land is your land

This land is my land

From California

To the New York islands

From the redwood forest

To the Gulf Stream waters

Oh, this land was

made for you and me.

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