Ignorance of Consumers

We all know the expression "ignorance is bliss". But is it really? Ever since Ms. A showed us Food inc, (which was right up my alley, I found it really interesting.) It also got me thinking about what else the food industry is lying about, or concealing simply for their own benefit of making revenue.
There are a lot of mixed messages sent by the food industry. A huge issue used to be the egg debate. Are eggs good for you? Are they bad? There are a lot of conflicting studies and findings regarding eggs. So many more similar issues make it hard to know what is healthy and what isn't.
Not only are mixed messages an issue, but the ethical side of food is a huge issue too. The consumers don't have the slightest clue of what goes on behind closed doors. We have no idea how many animals are tortured in slaughterhouses every single day. Most people who do know, don't want to actually think about it. The food industry won't willingly share what goes on inside of these slaughterhouses because if you knew, you wouldn't want to eat it.
I have done a LOT of research on the meat and dairy industry over the past week or so and it's completely changed my outlook on food. It goes beyond ethics for me, don't get me wrong, animals' lives matter to me, but there are also a lot more factors that have driven me away from animal products.
I have learned that milk, (I'm lactose intolerant anyways so I don't drink milk. I do [did; as of 9 days ago] eat a lot of Greek yogurt and string cheese.) is legally allowed to contain up to 750,000 somatic cells PER milliliter. Click here to watch the truth about milk Somatic cells are pus cells found in cows; and somatic cells are the same cells that are in zits...yummy. There is also the ethical side of how dairy cows are treated, which is also shown in the video linked above. I really am more aware of the food that I put into my body and really think about the quality of product that I consume.
I of course didn't stop there, I also watched several videos about eggs, which by the way, explains some of the egg debate that I mentioned at the beginning of this post! I continued research about meat in which I discovered the shocking fact that a hamburger only contains 2.1-14.2% of ACTUAL MEAT. WHAT? To find out what's making up the other 86-98% of the burger, the video does a great job of explaining.  I also wanted to know about fish, too. There were some pretty interesting things I learned about mercury levels in fish
Being an informed consumer is the most powerful thing you can do as a consumer. If you do your research and find you don't like what you see, you can literally change the food industry. Don't support things you don't believe in or don't feel comfortable consuming. I recently made the switch to better my health in the long run. (521)