Entry #7: The importance of the food system
When we watched the film Fresh in class, it made me realize how I hadn’t really thought about the food I eat and where it actually comes from. Before watching Fresh, I never really cared about how our food was produced or what happens behind the scenes, but watching it showed me how we need to pay better attention to our food and the food system. By showing the farms, animals and the environment, the film helps viewers to realize how poor our country’s food system is and inspires them to think about ways they can make it safer and sustainable.
The purpose of Fresh is to show everyday consumers and those who care about food safety how our food is really processed and the dangers that come with it. One thing that I noticed about the film is how the tone is hopeful and realistic and it impacts me as a viewer because it shows me the problems going around in the food system such as factory farming and gives me hope by offering solutions on how we can improve food safety such as sustainable farming methods like crop rotations and improving animal welfare by placing them in open and natural environments instead of cramped industrial conditions. According to Hiywotu, “By implementing practices such as crop rotation, agroforestry, conservation tillage, and organic farming methods, farmers can improve soil fertility, increase water efficiency, and reduce reliance on synthetic inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.” All of these practices help make our food fresh and clean, ensuring that the meals we eat are safe and healthy.
The film describes how bad factory farming is because of the harsh treatment of animals, including living in harsh, stressful environments, so the part that stood out to me was when I saw the alternative to factory farming. I got to see how a farmer improved animal welfare by letting his farm animals be raised outdoors, giving them tons of space, and treating them humanely unlike the industrial farming system. It made me realize how healthier and more humane farming is possible, and how it should be used more. According to the article, “Importance of Animals in Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security”, “Farm animals contribute not only a source of high-quality food that improves nutritional status but also additional resources such as manure for fertilizer, on-farm power, and other by-products, and, in addition, provide economic diversification and risk distribution.” This shows that treating animals good is very crucial for us to have healthy and fresh food. If people continue to do factoring farming, dangers will keep on arising like the risk of contamination leading to food-borne illnesses, dangers to animals and the environment.
All in all, Fresh opened my eyes to the realities of the U.S. food system by making me think about where my food actually comes from, how little I know about the process behind it, and how much animals suffer due to factory farming. I believe that this film did a great job in showing the problems of the food system in the U.S. and how we can improve it by treating animals better and having safer and more sustainable farming. This film matters and is important because it helps people like me to understand what is really going on in the U.S. food system and why these issues like why animal welfare and environmental health are crucial. Do you agree?
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