Vancouver Air

I swear, some mornings, the air here in Vancouver smells like maple bar donuts. These:

Those are good mornings.

Food Inc.

I've have had at least three different Canadians (including my dentist) talk to me about the documentary Food Inc. People here in Vancouver, particularly, are big into organic, free-range, local foods so naturally. they're into this film. I'm watching it now and it is good. It features Ken Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, so the movie looks specifically at the fast food industry and how it drives the food market. Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma) also shows up. The movie uses a lot of graphic imagery (I think it's allowed to because it's Canadian and doesn't they don't have the same rules as in the U.S.) and lots of computer graphics. It makes good points, yes, and sheds light on a system that ruins small farmers and promotes production of food that is devoid of nutrients. It's all a bad system. There's nothing particular new about the documentary; I've read all this before and yes! even seen it. King Corn came out a year before Food Inc. but I don't suppose it got as far as Canada.

But I also get the feeling that this movie makes Canadians feel better about themselves. They pat themselves on the back for not being American and living in a country where this industrialized system exists. Except Canada and the U.S. aren't so far apart so a great deal of food here is the same as in the U.S. Canadians are part of the system too but they just have a smaller population. I don't disagree with the documentaries or books; I just wish these Canadians didn't seem so smug about food. But I shouldn't generalize, maybe it's just people in Vancouver.

Anyway, I prefer King Corn. More personable, like Iowans.