Farmaggeddon and Life with Littles

Writing seems to be a luxury when you are daily running around chasing four kids, six and under.  Technically I am chasing three while clutching a two month old.  I stay positive and sane, mostly, with the thought that they will get older soon enough and the poop, food, and lego messes will pass.  That, and they are just so cute at this age that they are worth the mess and semi-meltdowns.  Yes, this is a busy time, but in the wise words of Jan Levinson-Gould, “There are always a million reasons not to do something.”  So I’m writing again.  My final piece on fluoride is still half done, but I needed to let you in on an eye-opening documentary.

My husband and I have great ideas on productivity but daily fail by ending up in bed, watching television, an hour or two before bed time. It was another one of those depressing nights where there were no new recordings and we were left to peruse what Netflix had to offer.  American government seems to be the popular subject, with countless documentaries, some elegantly leaving out pertinent historical facts that put our government into question.  I leave that for the conspiracy theorists though.  It is their passion, not mine.  My passion, as you might have gleaned, is pure food and health.  So when when my husband scrolled down to a documentary with the image of a chained glass bottle of fresh milk and the title “Farmaggeddon,” how could I resist?  I asked him to put it on, and we watched it all the way through, and past, a decent bed time.

I know that most of you have heard somewhere or another of laws that keep you from buying or selling certain foods.  This documentary showcases the serious and rug-swept issue of small families and CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) being harassed for getting anywhere close to these laws by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other state food regulators.  Farmaggeddon is evidence that big agriculture has a big hand in government and we are not free to buy and consume healthy, wholesome, real food.  We are, on the other hand, allowed to kill ourselves and our children with processed and fast foods.

It isn’t all scary.  The highlight of the documentary, in my opinion, was the interviewing of two of my personal heroes.  The first, Joel Salatin, author and farmer, reveals the astounding beauty and sustainability of organic and ethical farming.  Farmaggeddon does a great job here by visually comparing Salatin’s Polyface Farm to factory farming and sharing important information about the health and environmental differences between the two.  This is one farm that I intend to visit with my children soon as it is incredibly serene, intelligently planned, and an example of what we all should be contributing to or replicating.

The second interview was with the lovely Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston Price Foundation and author of Nourishing Traditions.  Nourishing Traditions is my favorite cookbook.  My copy is frayed and spotted with numerous sauces and broths from frequent use.  I will admit that I haven’t read even most of it, as the sheer amount of information in the margins of this cookbook is enough to fill an encyclopedia on health and nutrition.  I truly believe that healing comes from the information and recipes that this cookbook provides and I have based my family’s diet around it.

It is one of those films, that when you watch it, everything in you screams, “Yes!”  It ignited my passion again for sharing what real, unprocessed food does for your health and well being.  What really happens when we apply this for ourselves?  We actually contribute to a system of farming that supports local economy, the environment, and the demise of industrialized farming.  Maybe that is why “Big Ag.” is fighting so hard to keep us from it.