Milly asked if I wanted to watch a movie last night. I’m all for relaxing and eating popcorn so I excitedly agreed. Little did I know that it was a trick. I wouldn’t consider a documentary a movie and documentaries are not really considered entertainment in my books. Milly had found a documentary called The future of food and was giggling with excitement as she’s wanted to watch this film for a while. You can watch it on line for free on the link above. It goes through the plight of many farmers who have been basically put out of business by the big seed companies and the governing authorities in both the US and Canada. In summary this is what is discussed:

• Genetically Modified (GMO) food is controlled by major corporation and is in almost all processed food. It does not need to be labeled on packaging in the US or Canada. It does in Europe.
• There is a huge outcry against GMO food as many people feel it is very dangerous to consume and it also puts big business in control of the food supply
• The current laws allow patents on GMO food and seeds in general. Most seeds are now being patented which makes the farmer indebted to big seed companies. Farmers need to buy seed and fertilizer from these companies as they are no longer able to save seed from year to year.
• The people making the laws regarding agriculture are often the same people that work for the big seed companies. Many have gone back and forth between working for the seed companies and working in government where the regulatory laws are established.
• Diversity of seed is gone. Four types are potatoes are planted now where their used to be hundreds of kinds. Same thing is happening with corn, soy beans, apples, peas etc.
• Overseas markets are banning GMO foods from their countries or are at least making the foods be listed on packaging.
• The main reason seed companies claim GMO food is being developed is to cure the world of hunger. This is false and is actually making things worse. Food production is not the problem. Access to food is the problem.
• Buy local food or start your own garden
• Save seed

I think the documentary is well done. It’s shocking to hear some of the things presented. I am often cynical in regards to presentations like this but most of what is presented rings true to me. That dang Milly. I keep saying she’s ruining me. I can’t eat normal processed food now without sniffing for chemicals and trying to pronounce all the ingredients. So grab yourself some non GMO popcorn with real butter and watch The Future of Food. It’s not a movie but it turned out to be a fairly entertaining documentary. I’d be interested in any comments or opinions on this documentary. Shoot me a email or leave a comment so I can hear what you think about this topic.