Food, Inc

We are educators, we are not politicians or employees or managers employed by corporate agri-businesses or animal factories. That is why I highly recommend that you watch Food, Inc., then find the appropriate class in which to show it to your students each and every semester until laws continue to be enacted to protect the crops and livestock that we use in our foodservice and hospitality businesses.  If we really, truly are teaching ethics to students we will do right by them and teach them to demand a better -- not always cheaper -- product to use in our foodservice operations.  I just watched Food, Inc., and it is a sobering look at the reality of how food production in the United States is dominated by a few large agri-businesses staffed with a team of lawyers to make sure nothing will interrupt the march to a total monopoly of our food sources. 

I would also suggest you follow the blog that is updated by the Animal Welfare Institute.  It is an organization that is monitoring the mechanization of livestock businesses in the United States.  One of the AWI latest blog posts has made it clear that the consumer tide is turning and customers are starting to vote with each grocery purchase or trip to their local farmer's market by buying fresh, local foods.  The Animal Welfare Institute blog is available at the following URL, so visit it yourself on a regular basis and encourage your students to do the same: http://www.animalwelfareapproved.org/blog/

Together we can change the so-called modern practices being used to raise produce and livestock in the United States.  It happenened once already with Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle, and it can happen again for the sake of the food we eat and serve in our industry. Take a stand and do right by your students and the future of our hospitality industry -- which by the way is also an accomplice to the problem especially large fast food chains pumping out fat, sugar, salt, and artificial flavorings that are fashioned to look like real food.  Case in point, ever wonder what is in a Chicken McNugget -- advertised during the Olympics as a way to "eat like Olympians?!"  Here is the recipe: http://www.rense.com/general76/chk.htm