1 00:00:00,187 --> 00:00:02,770 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:04,481 --> 00:00:06,260 Here at this quaint little butcher shop 3 00:00:06,260 --> 00:00:07,470 in the Netherlands, 4 00:00:07,470 --> 00:00:10,723 Chef is preparing a worldwide fast food favorite: 5 00:00:12,620 --> 00:00:17,620 fries, coleslaw, and golden fried chicken nuggets. 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:23,090 They're easy to take for granted but the seemingly humble 7 00:00:23,090 --> 00:00:24,853 chicken nugget is anything but. 8 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:29,650 These shape shifting pieces of salty, fatty, 9 00:00:29,650 --> 00:00:33,420 reconstituted deliciousness are an example of everything 10 00:00:33,420 --> 00:00:35,860 that industrial food has sought to achieve 11 00:00:35,860 --> 00:00:38,357 over the past 200 years. 12 00:00:38,357 --> 00:00:39,430 (upbeat music) 13 00:00:39,430 --> 00:00:42,651 The farms, factories, and processing plants of today 14 00:00:42,651 --> 00:00:45,670 produce food like this en masse 15 00:00:45,670 --> 00:00:47,683 and distributed across the world. 16 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,990 But this particular nugget holds a secret 17 00:00:51,990 --> 00:00:56,680 that may just change the entire system that created it. 18 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,053 This is the story of the industry of food. 19 00:01:06,329 --> 00:01:08,912 (upbeat music) 20 00:01:11,460 --> 00:01:14,290 For thousands of years after its invention, 21 00:01:14,290 --> 00:01:18,573 farming and agriculture remained fundamentally the same. 22 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,712 Most families lived off their own land 23 00:01:22,712 --> 00:01:26,180 cultivating their own gardens 24 00:01:26,180 --> 00:01:28,353 and raising their own livestock. 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,440 A typical family dinner. 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:34,180 Homemade bread, 27 00:01:34,180 --> 00:01:36,883 preserved vegetables from this year's harvest, 28 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,350 freshly slaughtered beef from the farmer over yonder, 29 00:01:41,350 --> 00:01:43,443 and potatoes from the root cellar. 30 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,070 But the modern world was on its way 31 00:01:48,070 --> 00:01:52,322 and things began to develop at an unprecedented pace. 32 00:01:52,322 --> 00:01:53,520 (energetic music) 33 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,790 Steamboats and railroads began to speedily transport 34 00:01:56,790 --> 00:02:01,790 new foods fresh over previously unfathomable distances. 35 00:02:01,938 --> 00:02:06,938 Until then, food had to be consumed relatively close 36 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:08,900 to its source. 37 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:12,660 And a steam driven transportation revolutionizes the global 38 00:02:12,660 --> 00:02:13,710 distribution of food. 39 00:02:15,248 --> 00:02:16,340 (energetic music) 40 00:02:16,340 --> 00:02:19,090 These innovations culminated in an event 41 00:02:19,090 --> 00:02:23,000 that would become known as the Industrial Revolution. 42 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,773 The world and our dinners would never be the same. 43 00:02:29,690 --> 00:02:33,353 Industrialization created food for the masses. 44 00:02:34,220 --> 00:02:39,038 Industrial food is a food that is relatively inexpensive. 45 00:02:39,038 --> 00:02:44,038 It's created to appeal to a very broad range of palates. 46 00:02:45,150 --> 00:02:49,863 It's created to last a long time and be easy to ship. 47 00:02:51,170 --> 00:02:53,110 In the 200 or so years 48 00:02:53,110 --> 00:02:56,540 since the Industrial Revolution's splattered to life, 49 00:02:56,540 --> 00:03:00,720 humans have undergone major shifts in diets, demographics, 50 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:02,720 and seen the emerging domination 51 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,478 of processed industrial foods. 52 00:03:05,478 --> 00:03:09,970 Processed products began to flood the American market 53 00:03:09,970 --> 00:03:14,010 as the corporate giants today took their first steps. 54 00:03:14,010 --> 00:03:17,700 Soup was sold in tin cans from huge factories 55 00:03:17,700 --> 00:03:19,750 and the mass production of milk chocolate 56 00:03:19,750 --> 00:03:23,053 meant everyone could enjoy a cheap and tasty treat. 57 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,490 Hot dogs became a huge hit on Coney Island. 58 00:03:27,490 --> 00:03:30,614 Our love of processed meats was born. 59 00:03:30,614 --> 00:03:33,790 And James L. Kraft received a patent 60 00:03:33,790 --> 00:03:36,193 for the first processed cheese. 61 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,020 Processed foods were promoted as modern, 62 00:03:40,020 --> 00:03:42,083 sanitary, and economical. 63 00:03:42,083 --> 00:03:45,186 People ate it up. 64 00:03:45,186 --> 00:03:48,150 The Roaring Twenties was a time of new money, 65 00:03:48,150 --> 00:03:50,083 new music, and new food. 66 00:03:50,083 --> 00:03:53,640 The elite vacationing in the casinos of Tijuana 67 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,870 brought home a culinary sensation. 68 00:03:55,870 --> 00:03:58,712 It became the emperor of all salads. 69 00:03:58,712 --> 00:03:59,883 The Caesar. 70 00:04:00,750 --> 00:04:04,130 Prohibition didn't stop this sensational salad 71 00:04:04,130 --> 00:04:07,443 from being paired with a dry gin martini and champagne. 72 00:04:08,713 --> 00:04:13,613 But a sweet and legal alternative really began to pop. 73 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,730 Soft drinks didn't really become ingrained 74 00:04:18,730 --> 00:04:21,750 in American culture until prohibition. 75 00:04:21,750 --> 00:04:25,590 When people couldn't drink alcohol legally 76 00:04:25,590 --> 00:04:27,486 and needed a substitute. 77 00:04:27,486 --> 00:04:30,903 The 1930s were hit by the Great Depression. 78 00:04:33,090 --> 00:04:36,116 This was the era of the soup kitchen. 79 00:04:36,116 --> 00:04:40,160 Cheap eats to find the decade and meals like meatloaf 80 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,959 and ketchup soup were dinner time staples. 81 00:04:42,959 --> 00:04:45,340 But a world shattering event 82 00:04:45,340 --> 00:04:48,303 was about to alter our food forever. 83 00:04:49,822 --> 00:04:52,010 The troops advanced 84 00:04:52,010 --> 00:04:54,760 with the river and smokescreen behind them. 85 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:56,780 The 1940s were dominated 86 00:04:56,780 --> 00:04:59,930 by World War II and rationing. 87 00:04:59,930 --> 00:05:02,170 U.S. food shoppers had to be educated 88 00:05:02,170 --> 00:05:03,330 all over again. 89 00:05:03,330 --> 00:05:05,920 Reams of written material and posters told them 90 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,390 how to choose foods for their table that were plentiful 91 00:05:08,390 --> 00:05:10,260 and still nutritious. 92 00:05:10,260 --> 00:05:12,550 It had a hugely influential effect 93 00:05:12,550 --> 00:05:15,256 on the trajectory of industrialized food. 94 00:05:15,256 --> 00:05:17,920 It often took the background of a certified 95 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,000 public accountant to juggle points and products. 96 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,154 The kind of industrialized food system that we have today 97 00:05:25,154 --> 00:05:29,100 really didn't start until after the second World War. 98 00:05:29,100 --> 00:05:30,890 What happened during the second World War 99 00:05:30,890 --> 00:05:35,890 was this enormous effort to produce food for troops overseas 100 00:05:36,500 --> 00:05:40,960 and to get that food to where the troops needed it. 101 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,380 This company operates a plant as complete 102 00:05:43,380 --> 00:05:45,913 and self-contained as a factory can be made. 103 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,110 Look at the cans going through this line with the zip 104 00:05:49,110 --> 00:05:50,960 of machine gun bullets. 105 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,260 That meant that we had to develop a transportation system 106 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:57,020 and that was when we developed all of the highways 107 00:05:57,020 --> 00:05:59,780 across America, the trucking systems, 108 00:05:59,780 --> 00:06:01,858 the refrigerated systems. 109 00:06:01,858 --> 00:06:04,910 That was when New Yorkers were lucky enough 110 00:06:04,910 --> 00:06:07,403 to start eating foods from California. 111 00:06:08,339 --> 00:06:10,450 Women in the post war world 112 00:06:10,450 --> 00:06:12,750 were beginning to enter the workforce. 113 00:06:12,750 --> 00:06:16,040 And mom needed to find a cheap and easy solution 114 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:17,771 for family dinner. 115 00:06:17,771 --> 00:06:19,110 (upbeat music) 116 00:06:19,110 --> 00:06:22,260 Jello molds filled with tuna, marshmallows, 117 00:06:22,260 --> 00:06:25,403 and other processed foods were the center of the table. 118 00:06:25,403 --> 00:06:29,410 Jello was packed with protein and it was an easy way 119 00:06:29,410 --> 00:06:31,785 to stretch out leftovers. 120 00:06:31,785 --> 00:06:32,860 (upbeat music) 121 00:06:32,860 --> 00:06:35,270 The '40s also marked the big shift 122 00:06:35,270 --> 00:06:38,083 in the way we farmed our foods. 123 00:06:38,083 --> 00:06:41,350 We see a transition toward a kind of farming 124 00:06:41,350 --> 00:06:44,890 that relies on tractors, and pesticides, and herbicides, 125 00:06:44,890 --> 00:06:46,870 and seeds that grow really well 126 00:06:46,870 --> 00:06:49,341 in that world of those chemicals. 127 00:06:49,341 --> 00:06:50,740 (upbeat music) 128 00:06:50,740 --> 00:06:52,430 The use of chemical fertilizers 129 00:06:52,430 --> 00:06:55,290 and plant hybridization has seen the production of crops 130 00:06:55,290 --> 00:06:57,243 like wheat and corn triple. 131 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,440 By the time the '50s rolled around, 132 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,920 the population and the economy were booming. 133 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,900 And corn began to appear on our plates in more ways 134 00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:09,370 than the cob. 135 00:07:09,370 --> 00:07:11,160 The production is generally concentrated 136 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,530 in the big corn razing areas of the country. 137 00:07:13,530 --> 00:07:16,763 The trend is towards scientific feeding in the large scale. 138 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,450 The astonishing advent of television dominated 139 00:07:20,450 --> 00:07:23,893 the culture and food convenience was becoming king. 140 00:07:24,730 --> 00:07:27,241 This all came together in a family favorite 141 00:07:27,241 --> 00:07:30,985 of the 1950s, the TV dinner. 142 00:07:30,985 --> 00:07:33,741 A popular meal for the family. 143 00:07:33,741 --> 00:07:36,415 How about some turkey and gravy? 144 00:07:36,415 --> 00:07:40,610 Defrosted garden vegetables and mashed potatoes 145 00:07:40,610 --> 00:07:42,163 with dehydrated milk. 146 00:07:43,090 --> 00:07:46,160 As appetizing as frozen dinners were, 147 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,150 the '50s were really defined by the restaurants 148 00:07:49,150 --> 00:07:50,942 that got their starts. 149 00:07:50,942 --> 00:07:55,170 The era of fast food was beginning. 150 00:07:55,170 --> 00:07:57,470 Fast food started out with one store 151 00:07:57,470 --> 00:07:59,060 and now there are thousands. 152 00:07:59,060 --> 00:08:03,262 And they were able to design a production system 153 00:08:03,262 --> 00:08:07,870 at a quality that people liked that could be sold 154 00:08:07,870 --> 00:08:10,693 at very low cost and delivered very quickly. 155 00:08:10,693 --> 00:08:15,593 And that's a formula that has lasted a very long time. 156 00:08:16,750 --> 00:08:18,460 I remember when I was a teenager, 157 00:08:18,460 --> 00:08:22,289 we used to love to go to fast food places and hang out. 158 00:08:22,289 --> 00:08:24,580 It was cheap; we could afford it. 159 00:08:24,580 --> 00:08:27,007 It was fun; we loved the way it tasted. 160 00:08:27,007 --> 00:08:29,883 And what's wrong with that? 161 00:08:32,340 --> 00:08:35,255 Restaurants took an assembly line approach 162 00:08:35,255 --> 00:08:36,088 to the kitchen. 163 00:08:36,088 --> 00:08:39,217 And its success spawned a legion of imitators. 164 00:08:39,217 --> 00:08:41,740 The race was on for the hearts 165 00:08:41,740 --> 00:08:44,813 and stomachs of the American people. 166 00:08:44,813 --> 00:08:48,538 This was fast food and you had to keep up. 167 00:08:48,538 --> 00:08:50,284 (upbeat music) 168 00:08:50,284 --> 00:08:53,903 In the '60s fast food chains continued to expand. 169 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:58,090 And fast food's quest for uniformity and cheapness 170 00:08:58,090 --> 00:08:59,843 warped the entire supply chain. 171 00:09:02,020 --> 00:09:05,434 The entire food system has consolidated. 172 00:09:05,434 --> 00:09:09,010 So there are only a few companies that sell us meat, 173 00:09:09,010 --> 00:09:13,620 sell us chicken, sell us sodas, sell us packaged goods. 174 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:16,290 That's just the way America works. 175 00:09:16,290 --> 00:09:18,850 You consolidate, you want highly efficient 176 00:09:18,850 --> 00:09:22,650 production systems with the entire purpose of it 177 00:09:22,650 --> 00:09:26,020 being to keep the cost of food as low as possible. 178 00:09:26,020 --> 00:09:28,900 That means you can afford to eat a lot of it. 179 00:09:28,900 --> 00:09:30,741 And we do. 180 00:09:30,741 --> 00:09:31,750 (upbeat music) 181 00:09:31,750 --> 00:09:33,320 In the 1970s, 182 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,780 a resistance to big cheap eats began to take root. 183 00:09:36,780 --> 00:09:39,698 With the advent of California cuisine, 184 00:09:39,698 --> 00:09:44,424 chefs began to champion organic, local, and fresh foods. 185 00:09:44,424 --> 00:09:48,253 The farm to table movement had appeared on the scene. 186 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:52,700 But there was no stopping fast food. 187 00:09:52,700 --> 00:09:57,150 It became the pinnacle of industrial and processed foods. 188 00:09:57,150 --> 00:10:01,228 In its wake, diets, farming, the supply chain, 189 00:10:01,228 --> 00:10:05,287 and the lives of animals were changed forever. 190 00:10:05,287 --> 00:10:08,050 Meat became cheap. 191 00:10:08,050 --> 00:10:10,550 Historically reserved for special occasions, 192 00:10:10,550 --> 00:10:14,750 people could now afford to eat meat three times a day. 193 00:10:14,750 --> 00:10:17,803 But what were the repercussions of this titanic shift? 194 00:10:18,949 --> 00:10:22,500 (birds chirping) 195 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:25,350 Polyface Farms in Virginia is a holdout 196 00:10:25,350 --> 00:10:27,613 from an almost bygone era. 197 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,803 So we move them everyday to a new spot. 198 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,200 To mimic the kind of migratory choreography 199 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,003 of herbivores throughout history. 200 00:10:38,924 --> 00:10:43,924 It's old grazing techniques with very modern technology. 201 00:10:44,860 --> 00:10:47,433 This is a perfect blend of old and new. 202 00:10:49,830 --> 00:10:52,420 Let me get them moved here before they get discouraged. 203 00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:53,420 All right. 204 00:10:53,420 --> 00:10:56,273 Come on honey pots, (hoots), come on gals. 205 00:10:57,345 --> 00:10:59,428 (mooing) 206 00:11:02,330 --> 00:11:04,813 Joel Salatin farms to produce meat. 207 00:11:06,750 --> 00:11:10,040 But the lives of these cows is in stark contrast 208 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,493 to the fate of bovines in large industrial facilities. 209 00:11:17,870 --> 00:11:21,760 My bottom line take on the modern industrial orthodox 210 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,910 food system is that it looks at life as fundamentally 211 00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:28,630 mechanical rather than biological. 212 00:11:28,630 --> 00:11:33,090 We as a culture, we simply ask how can we grow a plant 213 00:11:33,090 --> 00:11:35,750 or an animal fatter, faster, bigger, cheaper. 214 00:11:35,750 --> 00:11:39,101 We don't ask how to increase its nutrition, 215 00:11:39,101 --> 00:11:41,909 it's immunological function. 216 00:11:41,909 --> 00:11:44,810 How do we make an animal happier? 217 00:11:44,810 --> 00:11:46,170 Okay. 218 00:11:46,170 --> 00:11:49,298 We have a centralized system that's primarily mechanical 219 00:11:49,298 --> 00:11:52,718 and views food as inanimate protoplasm. 220 00:11:52,718 --> 00:11:57,600 And we view food completely different. 221 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,250 We view food as fundamentally biological. 222 00:12:01,250 --> 00:12:02,083 It's living. 223 00:12:02,083 --> 00:12:03,173 It's life. 224 00:12:04,660 --> 00:12:07,580 Animals in massive feed lots are predominantly 225 00:12:07,580 --> 00:12:10,620 fed corn and soy beans to fatten them quickly 226 00:12:10,620 --> 00:12:13,530 for slaughter and distribution. 227 00:12:13,530 --> 00:12:18,090 A culture is defined by its religion, it's architecture, 228 00:12:18,090 --> 00:12:18,973 and its food. 229 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:23,010 What do you think about food culture in the U.S.? 230 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:25,812 It's fast food. 231 00:12:25,812 --> 00:12:27,058 (chuckles) 232 00:12:27,058 --> 00:12:29,786 That is almost an anti-culture. 233 00:12:29,786 --> 00:12:33,440 To say that food and food which is life should simply 234 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,226 be viewed as a pit stop between 235 00:12:36,226 --> 00:12:37,059 the important things in life. 236 00:12:38,430 --> 00:12:41,631 As opposed to being important in and of itself. 237 00:12:41,631 --> 00:12:42,880 (mooing) 238 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:47,510 Our mission statement is to develop agricultural prototypes 239 00:12:47,510 --> 00:12:49,300 that are environmentally, economically, 240 00:12:49,300 --> 00:12:51,580 and emotionally enhancing, 241 00:12:51,580 --> 00:12:54,280 and facilitate their duplication throughout the world. 242 00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:57,880 Most of us have no idea where our meats 243 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,143 and vegetables come from. 244 00:13:00,390 --> 00:13:02,410 Americans eat avocados from Mexico 245 00:13:02,410 --> 00:13:04,810 or cherries from Chile year round. 246 00:13:04,810 --> 00:13:07,003 Regardless of distance or season. 247 00:13:07,857 --> 00:13:12,390 In the U.S., just eight percent of farms market 248 00:13:12,390 --> 00:13:14,877 and sell their food locally. 249 00:13:14,877 --> 00:13:19,120 Historically, a society or community that couldn't 250 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,160 feed itself was very vulnerable. 251 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,390 So the idea of localization is, I think, 252 00:13:26,390 --> 00:13:30,173 as much a kind of a community security issue 253 00:13:30,173 --> 00:13:32,521 as much as anything. 254 00:13:32,521 --> 00:13:36,230 As a result of the rapidly changing societies, 255 00:13:36,230 --> 00:13:39,910 technologies, and appetites of the 20th century, 256 00:13:39,910 --> 00:13:43,760 our local supermarket or restaurant has replaced the field 257 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,053 as provider of personal sustenance. 258 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:51,928 The number of farmers are so small that we've become 259 00:13:51,928 --> 00:13:53,760 extremely disconnected from our food. 260 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,260 Here's the deal, you can't pull people out of participation. 261 00:13:57,260 --> 00:14:00,270 You can't pull farmers out of the food system 262 00:14:00,270 --> 00:14:02,450 and expect integrity to occur. 263 00:14:02,450 --> 00:14:04,730 The only way you can have integrity 264 00:14:04,730 --> 00:14:06,093 is to have people involved. 265 00:14:07,199 --> 00:14:10,510 The disconnect between farms and our food 266 00:14:10,510 --> 00:14:13,363 coincided with a range of problems. 267 00:14:13,363 --> 00:14:17,670 From the '50s to the '70s, cardiovascular disease 268 00:14:17,670 --> 00:14:20,923 have become endemic in burger chomping Western society. 269 00:14:22,030 --> 00:14:25,560 In 1977, the U.S. government released a warning 270 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,453 against the dangers of red meat. 271 00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:30,633 Cholesterol was starting to be discussed. 272 00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:35,230 Sales were falling and the fast food industry was forced 273 00:14:35,230 --> 00:14:37,033 to come up with a new strategy. 274 00:14:38,780 --> 00:14:41,060 A crispy golden delight 275 00:14:41,060 --> 00:14:44,063 was about to take the fast food industry by storm. 276 00:14:45,690 --> 00:14:46,903 The chicken nugget. 277 00:14:47,820 --> 00:14:51,280 Chicken nuggets are a way of using byproducts 278 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:52,553 of chicken production. 279 00:14:53,921 --> 00:14:55,730 And the person who invented them was somebody 280 00:14:56,565 --> 00:14:58,973 who was promoting the poultry industry in the United States. 281 00:14:59,894 --> 00:15:02,747 He got the idea that if you took all these byproducts 282 00:15:02,747 --> 00:15:04,730 and ground them up and put them together you could make 283 00:15:04,730 --> 00:15:07,930 them look like chicken and they could be sold very cheaply. 284 00:15:07,930 --> 00:15:09,503 Hence, chicken nuggets. 285 00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:14,730 In 1983, the chicken nugget was introduced 286 00:15:14,730 --> 00:15:16,583 to restaurants across the U.S. 287 00:15:17,490 --> 00:15:18,690 They were an instant hit 288 00:15:19,659 --> 00:15:21,323 and the fate of the chicken was sealed. 289 00:15:22,260 --> 00:15:25,063 Chicken is the most popular meat in the U.S. 290 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,050 Today, chicken comes from huge industrial farms. 291 00:15:30,050 --> 00:15:32,453 Where chickens never see the light of day. 292 00:15:34,125 --> 00:15:38,123 They now grow twice as big as they did 50 years ago. 293 00:15:42,610 --> 00:15:45,060 The difference between we raise chickens 294 00:15:45,060 --> 00:15:47,490 and the way the industry raises chickens, 295 00:15:47,490 --> 00:15:51,298 our chickens are outside in fresh grass, 296 00:15:51,298 --> 00:15:55,413 they've got fresh air, sunshine. 297 00:15:56,380 --> 00:16:01,309 Those are all things that are denied to the factory chicken. 298 00:16:01,309 --> 00:16:02,570 (rooster crows) 299 00:16:02,570 --> 00:16:07,345 And of course this is a problem and why the industry 300 00:16:07,345 --> 00:16:11,920 has had to use so many antibiotics to keep them healthy. 301 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,533 Because of the overload of toxicity in that environment. 302 00:16:17,980 --> 00:16:19,950 When it comes to the processing, 303 00:16:19,950 --> 00:16:23,560 we process right here on sight on the farm as opposed 304 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,060 to a centralized processing facility so that the same person 305 00:16:27,060 --> 00:16:31,540 who raised the chicken is also to participate 306 00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:36,292 in its sacrifice and we think that that's pretty critical 307 00:16:36,292 --> 00:16:40,993 in maintaining a spiritual and emotional balance. 308 00:16:43,550 --> 00:16:45,493 Nobody should kill animals everyday. 309 00:16:47,140 --> 00:16:50,070 We're gonna kill animals but we're gonna intersperse that 310 00:16:50,070 --> 00:16:55,070 with a lot of time devoted to the life of the same animal. 311 00:16:58,310 --> 00:17:02,690 In 2017, almost nine billion chickens 312 00:17:02,690 --> 00:17:06,160 and 41 billion pounds of chicken products were produced 313 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,917 for the U.S. market. 314 00:17:07,917 --> 00:17:12,127 They were fed on 1.2 billion bushels of corn 315 00:17:12,127 --> 00:17:15,373 and more than 500 million bushels of soybeans. 316 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,220 You know, there's an old Chinese saying that says 317 00:17:21,220 --> 00:17:22,406 if you keep going the way you're going 318 00:17:22,406 --> 00:17:23,840 you're gonna end up where you're headed. 319 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,320 And the current system is absolutely not sustainable 320 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:28,360 over the long term. 321 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:30,525 It takes way too much energy. 322 00:17:30,525 --> 00:17:34,703 The average morsel of food is shipped 1500 miles. 323 00:17:34,703 --> 00:17:38,030 The only reason that works is because energy is cheap. 324 00:17:38,030 --> 00:17:43,030 You can't continue to deplete the commons faster 325 00:17:43,408 --> 00:17:45,033 than they're being replenished. 326 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,010 Over time, water will run out, soil will run out, 327 00:17:50,010 --> 00:17:52,863 chemicals will run out, you know, something will give. 328 00:17:54,110 --> 00:17:56,332 But there are some 329 00:17:56,332 --> 00:17:58,782 that see the industrial system as an opportunity. 330 00:17:59,750 --> 00:18:01,913 I want to be the biggest butcher in the world. 331 00:18:02,925 --> 00:18:04,480 (upbeat music) 332 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,830 Sausages, meatballs, and chicken nuggets 333 00:18:07,830 --> 00:18:10,060 line the shelves of Jaap Korteweg's 334 00:18:10,060 --> 00:18:13,170 boutique butcher shop with a difference. 335 00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:16,063 Every item is vegetarian. 336 00:18:17,380 --> 00:18:18,730 I'm a vegetarian butcher. 337 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:20,740 I grew up on a farm. 338 00:18:20,740 --> 00:18:22,403 I'm nine generation farmer. 339 00:18:26,219 --> 00:18:28,670 And I start this company 10 years ago. 340 00:18:28,670 --> 00:18:31,270 Because I was a big meat lover. 341 00:18:31,270 --> 00:18:32,790 In the 90s, 342 00:18:32,790 --> 00:18:35,670 Jaap witnessed the outbreak of swine flu 343 00:18:35,670 --> 00:18:38,200 and mad cow disease in the factory farms of Holland. 344 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,930 The tragedy of the animals' death and the needless 345 00:18:40,930 --> 00:18:45,093 destruction convinced him that there must be a better way. 346 00:18:46,290 --> 00:18:48,400 I'm not happy with the way we treat animals. 347 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,544 We use animals for meat products. 348 00:18:51,544 --> 00:18:55,086 And I started thinking about factory farm. 349 00:18:55,086 --> 00:18:56,502 What is it? 350 00:18:56,502 --> 00:18:59,479 We use animals as machines. 351 00:18:59,479 --> 00:19:03,043 We feed them with beans and wheat to make meat. 352 00:19:04,700 --> 00:19:07,930 But we don't need them any longer. 353 00:19:07,930 --> 00:19:11,680 We developed a machine where we can out the feed 354 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,080 that we feed the animals in and we get very tasty, 355 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,453 juicy, plant-based meat. 356 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,473 The thing is that a lot of people love meat. 357 00:19:24,090 --> 00:19:26,893 We're not against meat, only the way we produce it. 358 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:32,300 So I started a small vegetarian butcher shop with chefs 359 00:19:33,290 --> 00:19:35,963 and meat specialists to develop products 360 00:19:35,963 --> 00:19:37,763 with the same experience as meat. 361 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,640 As a chef, the first thing is the taste and the look 362 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,120 has to be incredible. 363 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,360 It has to be the same as the thing we are copying. 364 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,790 It looks like a chicken nugget. 365 00:19:47,790 --> 00:19:50,070 It tastes like a chicken nugget. 366 00:19:50,070 --> 00:19:51,370 But guess what? 367 00:19:51,370 --> 00:19:53,793 It's only made from plant-based materials. 368 00:19:55,966 --> 00:19:57,890 If you sell them in a fast food restaurant, 369 00:19:57,890 --> 00:20:00,423 people don't tell the difference. 370 00:20:00,423 --> 00:20:03,840 A vegetarian butcher is all about comfort food. 371 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,860 Everybody thinks vegan or vegetarian food is boring. 372 00:20:06,860 --> 00:20:08,950 You only have tofu and falafel. 373 00:20:08,950 --> 00:20:11,980 No, you have also the vegetarian meats so you can make 374 00:20:11,980 --> 00:20:14,250 a really nice burger. 375 00:20:14,250 --> 00:20:18,873 You can make chicken nuggets with sausage and sage oil. 376 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:21,570 Yeah, name it. 377 00:20:21,570 --> 00:20:24,043 You can make everything but then plant-based. 378 00:20:26,270 --> 00:20:27,780 The vegetarian butcher 379 00:20:27,780 --> 00:20:30,620 has worked with food scientists to use soybeans 380 00:20:30,620 --> 00:20:33,020 and lupin seeds to recreate the tastes 381 00:20:33,020 --> 00:20:37,981 and textures people love and no one seems to be the wiser. 382 00:20:37,981 --> 00:20:41,267 In Holland we eat a lot of meatballs. 383 00:20:41,267 --> 00:20:44,230 We are compared in a meatball competition 384 00:20:44,230 --> 00:20:45,830 with a big newspaper in Holland. 385 00:20:46,770 --> 00:20:50,430 There were 40 contestants and we came in third. 386 00:20:50,430 --> 00:20:53,210 So there were nine real butchers in the jury 387 00:20:53,210 --> 00:20:56,240 and they didn't have a clue it was vegetarian. 388 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,153 With that meatball we show off. 389 00:21:00,170 --> 00:21:04,113 You can easily fool people but that's not what I want to do. 390 00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:09,010 I want to give the meat eaters the option, hey, 391 00:21:09,010 --> 00:21:11,730 you can also eat vegetarian meat and yeah, 392 00:21:11,730 --> 00:21:15,769 just let the animal be the animal. 393 00:21:15,769 --> 00:21:18,602 (inspiring music) 394 00:21:21,980 --> 00:21:24,420 Since starting out at this small concept store 395 00:21:24,420 --> 00:21:28,190 10 years ago, the vegetarian butcher's products are now sold 396 00:21:28,190 --> 00:21:31,935 in over 4,000 outlets in 15 countries. 397 00:21:31,935 --> 00:21:34,620 But Jaap wants more. 398 00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:38,750 Now it's growing very fast and well, 399 00:21:38,750 --> 00:21:41,220 there's a lot of interest from big meat companies 400 00:21:41,220 --> 00:21:43,703 all over the world to work together with us. 401 00:21:44,550 --> 00:21:47,840 I think it's important to take it to an industrial level 402 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,313 because the meat market worldwide is very big. 403 00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:55,563 I don't have problems with industrial, with large scale. 404 00:21:57,620 --> 00:22:00,240 Jaab is embracing the industrial food system 405 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:01,813 to change it from within. 406 00:22:02,654 --> 00:22:05,672 We want to go as far as possible. 407 00:22:05,672 --> 00:22:10,180 People can buy the products from their butcher. 408 00:22:10,180 --> 00:22:12,460 They can buy by the retailer. 409 00:22:12,460 --> 00:22:14,010 They can buy by the wholesaler. 410 00:22:15,390 --> 00:22:19,563 I hope that they can buy by the fast food chains. 411 00:22:20,550 --> 00:22:23,140 If it's possible we can work with them we do it 412 00:22:23,140 --> 00:22:24,883 because I want to have impact. 413 00:22:26,450 --> 00:22:29,763 I want to change the meat production worldwide. 414 00:22:30,770 --> 00:22:33,013 That's only possible if you think big. 415 00:22:34,580 --> 00:22:36,750 It's not only the lives of animals 416 00:22:36,750 --> 00:22:40,183 that have changed with the industrial production process. 417 00:22:43,190 --> 00:22:44,763 Our diets have changed. 418 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,770 And it's not just what we eat. 419 00:22:50,770 --> 00:22:51,943 It's how much. 420 00:22:54,030 --> 00:22:55,423 In the 20th century, 421 00:22:56,341 --> 00:23:00,150 global population increases roughly by a factor of four. 422 00:23:00,150 --> 00:23:01,080 Which is amazing. 423 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:02,910 Nothing like that as far as we know had ever happened 424 00:23:02,910 --> 00:23:04,550 in the history of the world. 425 00:23:04,550 --> 00:23:08,550 But consumption per capita increases by a factor 426 00:23:08,550 --> 00:23:11,550 of nearly 20 in the same time. 427 00:23:11,550 --> 00:23:15,600 That's what really drives the growth of food production 428 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,564 in the 20th century. 429 00:23:17,564 --> 00:23:19,480 The modern system feeds us 430 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,100 more than we could ever need. 431 00:23:22,100 --> 00:23:25,293 And we embraced it with open minds and open mouths. 432 00:23:26,410 --> 00:23:31,160 Obesity is a really important health problem in America. 433 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,326 Roughly two thirds of Americans are overweight. 434 00:23:35,326 --> 00:23:38,901 We over-produce food in this country. 435 00:23:38,901 --> 00:23:42,320 The food industry is produced convenience. 436 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,460 Extraordinary convenience but what they've done is create 437 00:23:46,460 --> 00:23:51,050 a system that encourages us to eat too much too often. 438 00:23:51,050 --> 00:23:52,793 And of the wrong kinds of foods. 439 00:23:55,730 --> 00:23:58,490 The system has been set up to produce sweet, 440 00:23:58,490 --> 00:24:01,413 salty, fatty foods for a simple reason. 441 00:24:02,420 --> 00:24:03,453 They make money. 442 00:24:05,070 --> 00:24:08,930 It's not like the head of the soft drink company 443 00:24:08,930 --> 00:24:10,680 is like rubbing their hands hoping, 444 00:24:11,569 --> 00:24:13,919 you know, wishing a childhood obesity epidemic. 445 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,190 They have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders 446 00:24:19,190 --> 00:24:20,513 for quarterly profits. 447 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,190 Produce, fruits and vegetables, are perishable. 448 00:24:26,190 --> 00:24:27,710 They go bad. 449 00:24:27,710 --> 00:24:29,010 They're not very profitable. 450 00:24:29,010 --> 00:24:29,933 There's no market. 451 00:24:30,848 --> 00:24:31,720 They're not branded. 452 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:36,030 I mean, the system is just set up to reward 453 00:24:36,030 --> 00:24:39,590 the most profitable foods and unfortunately, 454 00:24:39,590 --> 00:24:43,243 profitability and health actually are at odds. 455 00:24:45,730 --> 00:24:48,371 The same evolutionary drive 456 00:24:48,371 --> 00:24:50,621 that calorie rich foods that helped us evolve 457 00:24:51,978 --> 00:24:53,610 is now threatening our lives. 458 00:24:53,610 --> 00:24:55,760 The reason we should care about nutrition 459 00:24:56,740 --> 00:24:59,347 is because the global burden of disease today, 460 00:24:59,347 --> 00:25:02,260 that's the largest study of human risk factors for disease 461 00:25:02,260 --> 00:25:05,471 in history found that the number one cause of death 462 00:25:05,471 --> 00:25:09,120 in the United States was our diet. 463 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:12,930 The number one cause of disability in the United States 464 00:25:12,930 --> 00:25:14,233 was our diet. 465 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,443 The food choices we make decide our health. 466 00:25:20,790 --> 00:25:23,220 You have tremendous power over our health, 467 00:25:23,220 --> 00:25:25,100 and destiny, and longevity. 468 00:25:25,100 --> 00:25:27,050 The vast majority of premature death and disability 469 00:25:27,050 --> 00:25:31,120 is preventable with a healthy enough plant-based diet 470 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:33,760 and other lifestyle changes. 471 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:35,920 It just takes this acknowledgement. 472 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:37,910 Just getting this information out there 473 00:25:37,910 --> 00:25:40,500 and then people will make better decisions 474 00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:42,920 because they want to be healthy. 475 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,900 The industrialization of food shaped the way 476 00:25:45,900 --> 00:25:50,240 we ate for the last century but it also contributes to many 477 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,693 of the biggest environmental challenges we face today. 478 00:25:54,774 --> 00:25:59,700 It's not like good food is a panacea for wellness, okay? 479 00:25:59,700 --> 00:26:02,420 But my goodness, it's one of the most controllable things 480 00:26:02,420 --> 00:26:03,270 that we could do. 481 00:26:04,202 --> 00:26:06,952 (exciting music) 482 00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:11,363 Our little moniker is healing the land one bite at a time. 483 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,567 We want people to understand that how you choose 484 00:26:15,567 --> 00:26:17,740 to eat today creates the landscape 485 00:26:17,740 --> 00:26:19,340 your grandchildren will inherit. 486 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,683 And so it's about regeneration not just sustaining what is. 487 00:26:25,620 --> 00:26:27,690 Even though our diets are wreaking havoc 488 00:26:27,690 --> 00:26:30,720 on our environment and our health, 489 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,608 there is hope for the future of food. 490 00:26:34,608 --> 00:26:36,890 (upbeat music) 491 00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:39,830 New businesses and technologies are already jostling 492 00:26:39,830 --> 00:26:42,943 to be the leaders of the next food revolution. 493 00:26:44,248 --> 00:26:48,182 Will the future be meat grown in Petri dishes? 494 00:26:48,182 --> 00:26:49,973 Urban organic farming? 495 00:26:51,970 --> 00:26:53,273 Or all vegan diets? 496 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,633 What will be the future of food? 497 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,036 (uplifting music)