A FRESH Perspective
Last Saturday I attended a viewing of FRESH, a documentary about the state of the local farmer. Since then I’ve been pondering what I saw. FRESH very much echoes what I believe, but how I communicate that to others is the issue. FRESH is a tough film to sum up.
Review
The film begins at the bottom and works its way up. The start is the hardest part: you see the cruelty of the system to the animals, the cruelty of the system to the farmers, and the cruelty of the system to the environment. This early illustration shows how the players in this lethal game are the big industrial food distributors, and the pawns are the consumers and the farmers. If one of the big players decides not to renew their contract with a farmer, then that farmer is left with tens of thousands of dollars in high maintenance infrastructure to pay for—with money they did not earn from the stock they sold.
Supposedly the EPA protects us, but how do you safeguard against the manure-lagoons that result from industrial-grade systems? If you observe animals in their wild state you will quickly see that large herds, that are unsustainable in a given area, move frequently so as to have fresh food. This leaves their waste behind to nourish the avians that feed off the insects and the maggots, and replenishes the ground that was just grazed. In the CAFO, concentrated animal feeding operation, paradigm all the animals are crowded together so closely they’ve little moving room. Worse yet, the animals are never moved from the given area and these toxic manure lagoons form; these are lakes of dung and urine that never occur in natural environments. Seventy percent of all the grain produced by the United States to, supposedly, “feed the world” goes to these organizations to cheaply feed their animals. Herbivores such as cattle cannot handle grain because they are meant to digest grass, and grain is too concentrated in energy. And, no matter what they say, it is never safe to feed corpses of animals to an herbivore!
The middle of the film shows the difference between the CAFOs, such as Tyson or Con-Agra, and the local, unconventional farmer is that one cares about the animals, plants, and their local environment. I’ll leave you to guess which of these actually cares.
This part of the film even addresses the myth that all farms are dirty, stinky, and need to be kept away from where people live. As I watch the various scenes showing the unconventional farmers, I am constantly impressed by the greenery that I see compared to the dead and predominantly man-made landscape of the CAFO. Even the fields recently grazed by a herd of cattle aren’t messy, because they were moved recently and the poultry were let in. I’d rather eat happy animals that were able to express their nature, than the denatured, adulterated, bloated, pre-treated (with antibiotics) “meat” the CAFO produces.
The last part of the film concludes by showing examples of farmers who have either made the change, or have come from strange backgrounds. Strangest of all, to me, is a man named Will who came from a corporate background to go back to farming; in a mere three acres he produces so much food that it astounds people. One man nearly died because a boar stabbed him with a tusk, because the subsequent infection was already antibiotic resistant. That man exterminated his whole herd of pigs and started fresh, and within that first year saved $14,000 just by not needing veterinary visits.
By and large, FRESH is encouraging. It outlines the problems of today and shows the solutions of yesterday, that which came before the industrial method, and explains very well why you cannot industrialize everything.
Conclusion
If you get the opportunity to see a screening, please do so. FRESH is a wake-up-call that needs to be sounded to a world already wounded by industrialism. The local farmer is safe and trustworthy, and if you do get sick you simply have to go back and complain. Since when have you talked to the CEO of Tyson over getting sick on their products?
If FRESH isn’t available in your area, think about hosting a screening of it; for small gatherings it is only $20, and is very much a good tool to show that what is in the grocery store isn’t necessarily better for you.
