I would like to take this time to thank those readers who have sent emails wishing me well, and offering suggestions, on the film that I am currently shooting. The film focuses on the vegan lifestyle theme depicting a vegan man searching for the perfect vegan girlfriend in a fictional comedic story. As a vegan, I admit to having a little fun by poking at the stereotype beliefs of many people as I debunk popular myths about being vegan through character development and plot in my films. Also, I would like to clear up a question that pops up now and again about my approach to filmmaking on the subject.
Question: Do (you ) avoid making factual and documentary-type films on vegans? Answer: Not at all, I just feel that as the vegan lifestyle has become more widely accepted and understood by health-conscience peers, the door is opened even further to advocate that cause by presenting the characters as “normal” and subject to life’s daily events (movie material) like everyone else. Thanks again for asking and for the emails you send (including 2 scripts that I have read)…keep them coming.
One pointed example of dealing with factual issues about diet and health is my deep concern about food safety in this country. It is estimated that the average dinner salad ingredients have traveled 1400 miles to reach our table. For our non-vegan countryman, that use animal products in your diet, you can expect at least that distance for your evening meal. The fast-growing “global economy” is responsible for an ever-increasing traveling distance for our food. An excellent blog: http://foodsafetycentral.net, gets our well-served attention about the problems associated with importing food. Articles like:
“Tyson Foods Enter Brazilian Poultry Industry”, “China promises better food safety standards…”, and a dear-to-my-heart article, “Heart disease – diabetes linked to BPA…”, a reference to bottled water that is tainted with a “potential” toxic chemical in the lining of plastic bottles. Unfortunately, we cannot rely 100% on the FDA screening for health issues on these distant imported goods. I ask you to consider reading a recent article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/09/10/food-safetys-dirty-little-secret.html?s_cid=et-0910. I was shocked and horrified to discover that the FDA is under funded and understaffed to handle our rapidly expanding food chain. As a result, the responsibility for food safety is largely being delegated to the producers and retailers that market the food. The article cites examples of conflicting interests when Government raids exposed that many slaughter facilities saved money by cutting out E. coli tests.
Say Whaaaaaaaaaaatttttttt???????????
I am not attempting to spread fear about these issues (I will leave the fear-mongering to our politicians). Rather, I hope to spread a “word to the wise”. I have written about the benefits of locally grown vegetables in recent blog articles. These backyard and homegrown models of food production appear to be the best solution to the problems associated with shipping food over ever-expanding distances. I have always advocated eating the most freshly-picked vegetables you can get for nutritional value. I will now add a longer list of benefits to raising your own food that includes food safety benefits. We must become responsible for what we eat and where it comes from before this trend goes much further. Are you actually ready for a time when the FDA, in a cost-cutting decision, turns to you and says: “folks…you are now on your own”?
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