Movie: Food inc.

I have not seen this movie, but I am assuming from your post that the main gist of things is how processed food is, how many additives, all the chemicals....

The cause/trigger for crohn's has been hotly debated here and in the world in general. I'm not sure when or if we will ever get to the real root of the problem.

But I do have to say that I ate very little in the way of processed food in my pre-crohn's life. My Mom did not use packaged food for anything. Everything was from scratch including our bread. We didn't eat in fast food restaurants. Basically, our diet was more farm like than Boston suburb. My Grandfather had a huge garden, we canned the vegetables for the winter. He had fruit trees, and we canned fruit. I don't think my mother ever bought a cake mix or brownie mix. If I got a Twinkie at a friends house, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I still cook the way my mother did, except for the bread (most of the time, sometimes I make my own). But, I do believe that as hard as we try, we have chemicals in our food and environment that have triggered something in our immune system. I also believe that is just one part of the puzzle. I think for some of us, like me, heredity plays a role. I am the 2nd confirmed generation with this DD, most likely the 3rd generation, and both of my daughters have shown the same type of signs I did as a child. Its just a more complex issue than saying, its the food we eat, period.

I'm from the south too and mom did all her cooking from scratch. Only additive was what we could scratch up. The old ,too clean theory dont hunt either as I played in the dirt most every day. Dirt poor is what we call it. I had a pet dog made of dirt and I fed him dirt and even had him fetch a dirt stick . My only toy was dirt. I made dirt boats and dirt trains and little dirt houses. Rain was like a present, because then we had mud and mud was much easier to mold than dirt. I could build a little mud army of little mud men . We had mud fights , mud hens, mud puppies , mud pies and mud between our toes . Not just me but the politicians too. They call it mud slinging and winning by a mud slide. Some even said that others name was mud.

I don't think it has to do with what we ate. I think it has to do with what society has eaten over time and how that has evolved peoples immune systems. I admit that I ate processed foods my entire life and still do although I would really like to start eating non processed foods. But I do believe the way we have eaten and what we have eaten over time has had an influence on crohns. It is more prevalent in modern societies than in developing countries.

unless i'm mistaken, the whole point of the post was what zanne originally stated - about how processed our food is, not the digression of food triggering crohn's or any other auto immune disease. that is an entirely different topic and i do not believe the intended subject of this thread (but i could be wrong - i have been fooled before...).

i thought food inc was a good movie, very well done and best for those who have no idea of what is really going on with the food chain and big agribusiness. it was a quick expose of big agribusiness and the control they exert over the food chain and yes, even government (the USDA is toothless with the laws big agribusiness has been able to get passed). it is surprising and unnerving that a handful of companies at best control virtually all of our food. even seeds are patented now, by chemical companies no less.

recommended follow up reading to the movie, since it only gives you the skinny, is as follows:

good carbs bad carbs by gary taubes

food politics by marion nestle

what to eat by marion nestle

the omnivores dilemna by michael pollan

in defense of food by michael pollan