Exploration 4: Allison Clark

Fresh Response

"Americans are only afraid of one thing- inconvenience". To me, this quote centralizes everything in the film Fresh, it grabs the attention of the audience and brings them in to open their minds on the idea that the United States agriculturally is not as well off as it seems to be. There are many flaws in our food production system, and the thing that I respected most about this film is that it is not out to accuse, but to educate and suggest solutions. The first step to conquering a problem is admitting that you have one, and this film brings realization to any who watch it. So it does not only educate about our food productions flaws but it brings a moral to apply to life in the long run, and any movie that provokes thought is an important one. I feel as if that's a strength to this film, the way that it suggests our solutions in a way appeals to everyone from any background or point in their life. The film addresses the factors that are against them and picks out flaws in their argument to explain a way that those can be fixed as well, and making their ideology undeniable. I relate to this film because it applies to everyone, including me, and it resonates because who wouldn't want to eat healthy? Who wants to eat meat from a place where there are 2,000 pigs in one small building? That's not an appealing thought. I relate to it's way of going about the problem and solution method, its not about the accusation and the wrong doing but what you can make right about it.

A theme that I have chosen to further explore is the antibiotics used to make the chickens that we eat to grow faster and be up to the standards that the consumer has made for the meat. For example, consumers prefer white meat to dark meat so engineers have worked to recreate the chicken to having more white meat and to grow faster and bigger to get the most out of the livestock. Not only does this go against the ways of mother nature, it is abusive to the animals. In chickens, the antibiotic makes this grow so fast that their bones and inside organs cannot keep up with the process, make it impossible for them to take more than a few steps at a time before plopping down (Food Inc. 2008). In Fresh, Joel Salatin represents the fact that it is unnatural to the process of mother nature to change how these animals grow by feeding them foods they weren't meant to eat and giving antibiotics that they shouldn't have. Another problem with the antibiotics is the fact that they build resistance in our immune systems. As we consume the animals that have been given the antibiotics, its creates a tolerance to the antibiotics we would be prescribed when we are sick, which proves that antibiotics are not beneficial to either party involved. My real thought is why is this worth it? What makes this okay to do? Because as a consumer, I would gladly make any sacrifices to make our food as profitable and safe as it should be. Our livelihood as human beings should not be compromised to put money in someones pocket. 

Link to Sources:

Antibiotic Resistance: 

http://www.nrdc.org/food/saving-antibiotics.asp

Food Inc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Ltaxr_BWk