MovieChat Forums > Food, Inc. (2009) Discussion > Why not a documentary on how our vegetab...

Why not a documentary on how our vegetables are being mistreated?

posted 14 years ago by strange_brew08
11 replies | jump to latest

It may sound silly to some of you moronic vegetarians out there, but believe it or not, there are these chemicals called pesticides that are sprayed on our crops day in and day out, and most of them are cancer causing! I'm waiting for a documentary that exposes all the dangers of the crop industry.

Not that I disagree with the points made in this movie, but you need to understand, vegetables and fruits are just as dangerous to eat as meat, and the way we harvest them is even more detrimental to the environment.

[–] salinuda1 14 years ago

buy organic.

[–] strange_brew08 14 years ago

Just because a food is grown organically, doesn't mean pesticides have been eliminated completely. For more info, check this out:

http://www.consumersunion.org/food/organicsumm.htm

Also, because food regulations are weak, it's possible that the label 'organic' may be falsely applied. There's no way of knowing if a food is truly organic.

[–] syerov 14 years ago

Well I think all the food we eat now is crap, but I agree with you that a person should not go to the extrema, like eat vegetables only, or eat meat only. These things need to be balanced.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SCP_One_Seven_Three 13 years ago

[quote]Also, because food regulations are weak, it's possible that the label 'organic' may be falsely applied. There's no way of knowing if a food is truly organic.[/quote}

Preach it! Lead the sheep away!

Seriously though, I still can't believe people fall for the 'organic' label.

I get it up, I get it up in the dark, I make her feel I'm not a holy man

[–] mickeyone 13 years ago

I'm waiting for a documentary that exposes all the dangers of the crop industry.

I first heard about this last year (in fact, May of last year so just a few weeks after you posted you message): Living DownStream (http://www.livingdownstream.com). Sounds really good but apparently it will not go into general release. If you want to see it, you just have to hope they will show it someplace nearby. It is based on a book of the same name written by Sandra Steingraber published in 1997, who wrote it based on research she did as a result of being diagnosed with bladder cancer at the age of 20.

Steingraber cites the following evidence as indications that certain chemicals (and radiation) can cause cancer:

• Immigrants soon exhibit the cancer rates of their adopted countries, rather than the cancer rates of the place where they were born.
• Maps show more cancers in urban than rural areas.
• Maps show more cancers in rural counties with heavy pesticide use than in those with low pesticide use.
• Individual studies reveal cancer clusters near chemical factories and near particularly polluted rivers, valleys, and dumps.
• Rates of childhood cancers are rising. The lifestyles of children have not changed much in 50 years; they do not smoke, drink alcohol, or hold stressful jobs. Yet childhood cancers are steadily rising.
• Fish and shellfish living in polluted water have increased cancer rates. In North America there are now liver tumor epizootics (the wildlife equivalent of epidemics) in 16 species of fish in at least 25 different fresh- and salt-water locations, each of which is chemically polluted. In contrast, liver cancer among members of the same species who inhabit nonpolluted waters is virtually nonexistent.
• Studies show that chemicals can damage the immune system and the endocrine system, promoting cancers.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/sustainable-sex/book-review-living-d ownstream-an-ecologist-looks-at-cancer-and-the-environment-by-sandra-s teingraber
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Downstream-Scientists-Investigation-Envir onment/dp/0375700994

Lets intensivly research ColdFusion NOW! http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4967330n

[–] hHard_Core_Logo 13 years ago

Isn't that common knowledge?

It's All Gushy!

[–] bald_tony 13 years ago

your point would have been so much better had you not immaturely used "moronic"

while it's true there are chemicals sprayed on crops, as i understand it no one can get sick from fruits and vegetables themselves, and they can from meat and dairy. no animals are slaughtered for crop harvesting, and since the 10 billion animals killed yearly in North America alone produce mega tons of waste, and fuel is used to transport some animals to slaughter, then used to transport the killed animals and animal byproducts as food, etc... the detriment to environment is much greater from meat and dairy than vegan food. sure, fuel is used to harvest and transport vegan food, but not in the quantities used for meat and dairy

[–] tundracaiyote 13 years ago

conventional food, yes. not to mention, they are genetically-modified organisms, or gene-altered organisms (dna from a moth + spliced into that of a potato) seed to make it round-up resistant, and THEN roundup is sprayed on it.

to escape this, buy organic.

[–] palisade-1 12 years ago

Enjoy this video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmK0bZl4ILM

[–] melinda2001 8 years ago

Where do you think all that animal feed comes from?