we are living in a Fast Food Nation

I am currently taking a class on the Anthropology of Food and Cuisine. We recently watched the movie Fast Food Nation. It's a fictional film based on Eric Schlosser's best-selling nonfictional exposé on the meat and processed food industries and how its not really about the meat at all. The book and film takes us behind the scenes of what life is really like for the labor forces in the heart of our industrialized meat system. 

The film did a good job of depicting commodity fetishism, specially demonstrating Americans and their meat. It was fascinating to see all of the social relationships that were expressed through the production of hamburgers for the fictional Mickey's. The films tracks the hamburgers that are being consumed in the fast food chain all the way back to the farms where the cows are living before they are slaughtered.

There is actually a scene in which the slaughtering of the cows is even shown and how people in this line of work have to go through a dehumanization of the killing process. 

All around the film is well scripted, well acted (with the exception of Avril Lavigne having a small role) while also at the same time calling its viewers to take action and be more responsible citizens with regards to the meat industry. It's definitely worth seeing.

The instructor for my class is such a doll and brought us homemade snacks so we could nosh during the film. She brought us hummus and pita and cheese and crackers! The hummus was absolutely delicious and the recipe was recently posted to our course website, so I posted it below. Our professor used lots of fresh dill for the herb section and it really made all the difference!

Hummus

This is a great dish to take to a potluck and you can make it for pennies.

1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 t salt

½ t baking soda

1 clove of garlic

½ cup olive oil

2 T tahini (sesame paste)

juice of one lemon

¼ water

salt and pepper to taste

1 t fresh or dried herbs (dill, cilantro, or thyme)

Soak the chickpeas in water (if you have a Brita filter, use filtered water) for at least 12 hours.

Drain the soaking water and place the chickpeas in a saucepan with enough water to cover the beans plus 2 inches on top. Add salt and baking soda (to make the beans creamy). Simmer for an hour or until soft. Drain and cool.

Place the cooked beans in a food processor. If you don’t have one, you can use a food mill, a potato ricer, or you can push them through a sieve, or crush them with a potato masher. Add the garlic, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper, and herbs. Mix well. Add more water or oil to thin it down if desired.

Place in a bowl. Garnish by drizzling more olive oil over the top and sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs, pine nuts, or olives.

In the hummus we had for class, I used fresh thyme and substituted caramelized chopped shallots (sautéed in butter) for the garlic. I also added the juice of a lime because it wasn’t citrusy enough for me and we didn’t have another lemon. For those of you who like a little heat, you can also add in a finely chopped jalapeno pepper. Serve with pita bread, chips, or raw vegetables.