"Fresh" had several
very important points, but if I were to pick a few of the most important parts,
I would have to say how they touched on mono-cultures, and the downfalls of the industrialization of farming. From stripping the soil of its nutrients, to more
prevalent pests as a result of mono-cultures, and to the lack of farms no
longer being a self-sustaining cycle. I also found this quote from Joel Salatin
interesting "Our neighbors get about $150 an acre, when we're getting
about $3,000 an acre." I was somewhat taken aback when I heard those
numbers. The fact that he is able to earn $2,850 more per acre is astounding. If
Joel has a proven system that has the potential to make $2,850 more per acre than
his neighbor, and is a self-sustaining cycle, then why isn't everyone doing it?
If I were to review this film I would focus on the way that the film didn't solely focus on the issue of mono-cultures and the way that livestock are raised much
like “Food Inc.” instead how it focused on the solution. The movie “Fresh” was more
interested in educating its viewers, instead of just scaring them with horrific
videos of the way that animals are treated. I would also focus on the statistic that 70% of US grain production is fed to livestock, and I would
dig deeper into the negative effects that having such large amounts of
livestock could be, such as water pollution.
The one question that I had after
watching “Fresh” would be about pesticides, primarily when crop dusting. What
is it that they are releasing into the air, and is it toxic to humans? After
doing a bit of research, I found that pesticides can have a variety of harmful
effects on humans, symptoms varying from headaches and blurred vision to asthma and nerve
damage. Although many of the symptoms are flulike and therefore go untreated. The
people that are most at risk would be the farmers, or anyone that comes in
direct contact with the pesticide without proper safety gear.
I was unaware of the effects pesticides can have on humans. That's pretty crazy to me, even though most of us are probably safe from the effects, it should be a sign that pesticides aren't 100% safe.
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