Entry #7: Fresh Me Please

Thanks to my ENG101 class, I recently watched a documentary called Fresh. If you haven't seen it, let's say it's not one of those hosted documentaries where they take us to the countryside to make fresh pasta and tomato sauce. No. This documentary is full of reality about where our food comes from, and let me tell you, it is not romanticized. Fresh is an eye-opening documentary that doesn't just guilt-trip you into growing all your own food by the following Monday (thanks to Will Allen); it just... makes you think. A whole lot. The film pulls back all the layers of our food system and forces us to be uncomfortable about what we eat. After watching the documentary, let me tell you I've found myself side-eyeing my groceries. 

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The Dark Side of Fresh 

At its core, Fresh is about the U.S. food system—not just what's on your plates but how it got there, from seed to table. The film includes everything from factory farming to chemical-heavy crops, questionable animal treatment, and the consequences of mass production. On the bright side, it also follows a couple of farmers and entrepreneurs who do it the right way and are working to change the system- people like good ole Joel Salatin, an outspoken sustainable farmer whose so passionate about farming it simply radiates off the screen. 

All of this sounds intense, doesn't it? That's the point of the film, not just to get information to stick, but for us to reflect and actually pause and think about the food we're eating, the next time we're going to the grocery store, or getting our next meal. The film makes you stop and ask: Have I ever really thought about what I eat and where it came from? 

We all have really just eaten what's in front of us. We tend to go to what's cheap, fast, or easy to microwave in this fast-paced economy. We all know the basics of where our food comes from- farms. We all understand animals don't exactly live glamorous lives, but this film reveals how disconnected we are from the process. And this film really makes you feel it, hard. There's a moment in the movie that shows the inside of a large-scale chicken facility, which is horrendous to say the least. It's dim, cramped chickens in small coupes with no space to move, it looks like a Halloween scene. What makes that scene even more heart-wrenching is the fact that they have no beaks... yeah, you read that right, no beaks. It's as if never seeing the light of day wasn't enough; they don't have an essential part of their anatomy. As if this animal cruelty wasn't enough, the film opened my eyes to the fact that many of these animals are forced into cannibalism. CANNIBALISM. Because of industrialization and the processing of farms, feeding cows or chickens, an herbivorous animal has now been forced against nature into this absurdity. This happens because it's considered a cheap feed, but morally, it's not right. Even Mother Nature sends distress signs to the farmers of this unnatural occurrence, like "Mad Cows" disease or the "Bird Flu." I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a free-range animal on my plate. There's something that Joel says that keeps running through my head, "put enough molasses and sweetener... It's like putting enough ketchup on something, you can get it down." I understood from that that if you dress it up enough, it's okay... no, it's not. It really makes you wonder if this is normal. Aside from the conditions and treatment of the animals, I couldn't believe how easy it's been to ignore all of it. The system is designed so we don't have to think, just make the purchase. 

The Bright Side of Fresh

I appreciated that Fresh wasn't all doom and gloom. The film introduced people who are actually trying to do something about the broken system, like farmers focused on sustainability, local food advocates, and people trying to make better choices while still feeding their communities. It gives us a scene of hope and reminds us that change doesn't have to be extreme- it can start small. We can begin by buying from farmers' markets or simply asking questions before buying something. Tiny shifts in our lives that can give us the gratification of, hey, I care. For instance, on my last grocery haul, I spent 20 minutes reading the labels on my chicken, no joke. Was it a little more expensive? Yes, but my mind is at ease when eating. Seeing how there are farmers who actually care about the treatment of the crops and animals, and how harmonious it's supposed to be, made me smile. Those are the farmers who deserve the world. Those farmers put greed aside and focus only on the food source. We need more of them! 

Fresh Me Please

Although it is easier to not know and eat that burger or enjoy those 10-piece chicken nuggets and pretend everything is fine, know that pretending doesn't make anything better. Don't be in denial- it's unsettling, but that's how things actually start to change. I'm not here trying to tell anyone how to eat, I'm still figuring this out myself, but I am walking away from this film thinking more deeply about the connections between food, people, and the planet. It's a reminder that ignoring the connections only makes us more lost. Fresh didn't just show me the deep-rooted issue; it asked me what kind of eater and human I wanted to be.