A food forum of celebs, then one of my own

It all started when my dear friend Brittany and I began having a rather intense discussion about food, all based on this video of a panel discussion called Food for Thought:

I'm with Waters on this one, especially because I think we can derive the same visceral pleasure from food that Bourdain discusses while we also revel in its freshness--in its authenticity as an actual food. My response to her saying that a food's origin doesn't matter (and that some people can't afford to care) is as follows:

I honestly think that we ARE on the same page here, hard as it is to believe. Because you’re right; when we eat, we shouldn’t have to ask where our food comes from. We should feel comforted by the fact that the government is monitoring our food systems well enough to keep us safe. But they’re NOT.

Just look at all the recent food safety scares with peanut butter. How did the salmonella get in the peanut butter? Well, nobody will ever know for certain because the journey from inside a peanut shell to onto a grocery store shelf is so long and convoluted that tracing it has become nearly impossible. Instead, companies spent millions of dollars to rectify the issue by pulling all products containing peanut butter off the shelves. If we knew where the tainted products came from, it would’ve been a hell of a lot cheaper to fix.

The point is, most of the food we as Americans are choosing to eat has a much higher cost than the price tag. The gas used to produce the food, to transport the food, is obviously taking a toll on the ozone. The high fructose corn syrup, the hydrogenated oils, well, those are taking a toll on our health. Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are all increasing in prevalence at astounding rates.

The food we consume may seem to provide only sustenance, while in the meantime it’s degrading our water sources, our soil, our air, and thus the produce that still has some integrity left.

If anything, we can’t afford not to care. Those of us fortunate enough to feed ourselves have to speak out for those who cannot. When we stop accepting the way America currently produces food, the processes will have to change. And when they do, that single mother can ensure that her children will never eat a tomato picked by a pesticide-sickened migrant worker who was deported the day he was supposed to be paid. That college student can ensure that his or her burger was not made from a cow slowly dying in its own feces.