It’s easy to read stories like the one about the pig or listen to me tell one – like the one about the turkey lungs – and to be grossed out. At the same time though, that disgust comes with a bit proof of what you’ve always suspected: that the food culture outside of our own is at the best of times unsanitary and at the worst of times maybe even dangerous.  It’s an idea that’s grown in our heads as we’ve grown into the people we are. From constantly being told to “wash your hands!” to the stainless steel din of grade school lunch lines to later in life that trip to the Yucatan when you snuck in a day of souvenir shopping, wandering through open air street markets on the side of town that wasn’t serving daiquiris with lunch and saw what they were actually serving. It’s the idea that the developing world’s food – while at times incredibly tasty – just isn’t that clean and it’s really only a matter of luck (or that regiment of probiotics you put yourself on before getting on that flight) that’s keeping you from getting sick. The soon-to-be-ubiquitous hand sanitizer that’s lobbied it’s way into so many localities building code’s of late, is just as guilty as my stories about food here, in continuing to promote this idea.

But it’s not an idea. It’s a stereotype.

It’s true, I’ve seen and eaten meat that’s gone un-refrigerated for days. I’ve knowingly drank unpasteurized milk and unknowingly drank raw milk. I’ve found worms in my beans and bugs in my grains. I’ve seen animals splattered during slaughter with the digested remains of what was once for them their own food – and then gone on to eat that meat myself. There is no Windex or Fantastic or Lysol within miles of my house or any of my neighbors’ I regularly eat lunch with. I recently rode 5k to find liquid dish soap instead of using a cow fat-based bar.

But it’s also true that those cows are raised on grass. Without an antibiotic regimen. Those chickens and turkeys live outside and have breasts smaller then my hands and thighs that outweigh those because they’re actually used – walking around. Those beans aren’t genetically modified and I only get to see the worms because I shuck them from the pod myself.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is it all only seems to be unclean – because you can see what’s going on. In fact you can’t not, because it’s all around. It’d be an easy argument to make that one of the most basic and fundamental tasks of human activity is to provide food for ourselves. When’s the last time you took part in that other then driving to the store? Take a minute to actually think about that. Unless you have a garden or are a recreational hunter, I’m gonna say it was probably picking an orange or an apple off a tree, but for a lot of you it’s probably been a lot longer then that. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s the way the world works these days. We can’t all be fishing all day.

And while we can be in denial all day, it’s probably not the best road to be on. The de-greased stainless steel is an illusion. The pre-washed spring mix in a breathable bag is curtain. The Purelle is a cover up. And the idea that meat on a stick from a street-side vendor is “unclean” is a hypocrisy. I get to see if poop gets on my meat. Then I get to wash it off. There’s a certain comfort that comes with that that I’m gonna miss. And I consider myself lucky to have had the chance to live with such transparency in my diet.

I could go on and on in some sort of Michael Pollan-esque rant about all of this, but I think you get the idea. I wrote those paragraphs above after watching Food Inc. last night and was feeling pretty thankful – and by the looks of the reread, pretty high on my already high horse – about getting the chance to take a time out from that whole system.

And then I was served cow hoof soup for lunch today.

The hypocrisy goes both ways and that gets lost a lot because there’s no sensational or moving way to portray it. The industrial food system feeds people quickly and cheaply and with as little labor as possible. On top of that it frees up a lot of us to be working on the things that help make all of our lives a bit easier and more enjoyable – because we don’t have to be out collecting berries or sitting in a boat all day hoping for a bit.

But there’s always room for improvement. In this case, a lot of room. Not everyone has time to read one of Schlosser or Pollan’s books. Or raise a pig and kill it. Chances are though you’ve got time to watch a movie. If you haven’t seen Food Inc. you should. Take two hours and put aside your politics – and it’s politics – and just try to be a little more informed on something has such a bigger impact on you then most of any of the other stuff being yelled at about on the television. A movie or a book or these couple paragraphs aren’t gonna change the way we go about our day, but it shouldn’t take living on farm in Paraguay – or anywhere else – to see the flaws.

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