Factory Farming

Its raining here so I was searching the web for all things farming and came across this commercial for Chipotle that I guess was one of their Super Bowl adds. I don't remember seeing it so I thought others might have missed it as well. Its kind of sad to think that this really is the way we get a lot of our food these days.

My three year old daughter watched this commercial with me just now and when she saw the pig go into the barn and farmer put up the last wall she said "Oh no mama, the piggy's trapped" Then a little later on when the pigs are vended into the factory she says "The poor piggies. Their sad" All is right again when the farmer lets the animals out of the barn and she is happy once more.
Its kind of funny to think that in her short time on this earth, she already understands that animals are not happy living like that. If a three year old can see the point this commercial is trying to make, it makes you wonder what happened to the rest of us. When did we learn to suppress the feelings of wrongness that allowed this type of farming to become the norm?

I remember when as a kid, my family and I would travel all over the US and Canada, and us kids would always want to eat at a fast food restaurant (we never got to eat it much, so for us it was a treat) and our parents would say, "we have one of those at home, why don't we try something else" It wasn't until many years later that I realized what they were saying with out really knowing it, was that a fast food burger in Michigan tastes the same as one in Florida, as one in Texas, Maine, Ohio, California, and Canada. Why is that?
This is not the fault of the farmers, they are really only doing what we ask them to. They are going to grow or raise what sells and right now we consumers want the burger in Alaska or Japan to taste the way it does back home. At that point its not about growing food anymore, its about producing a product that is consistent. This will continue to be the norm until we, as consumers, can come to terms with not having fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the middle of January.
In this world of pink slime infused meat and beetle enhanced red colored foods, we need to revisit the norm and ask if we are okay with this current food system.

You don't have to have a farm or grow all of your own food to change things. You have more power than anyone as a shopper. They are only going to produce what we tell them we want and we do that by buying some things over others or not buying something at all.
 Shop your farmers markets or buy a share in a CSA, learn to can/dry and store food for when its out of season. Learn to shop local and cook in season and you will help change the current food system.

Buy Local. Eat in Season.