Last weekend, I took my 15 year-old daughters to see the movie Food, Inc. The film is a documentary explaining, and exposing, how food in America gets from the farm to the fridge. If you have read any of the many books on the market today exploring what has happened to the American diet and our food supply, you know you are in for a brutal reality check.

I won’t review the movie other than to say: GO SEE IT. It is a grueling 93 minutes peppered with a couple of rays of hope - thank you Joel Salatin (the farmer we all want to be buying our food from) and Gary Hirshberg, aka Mr. Stoneyfield yogurt. But don’t worry, you don’t leave depressed. In fact, you leave feeling rather empowered.

The filmmakers encourage us to “vote” every time we grocery shop by making smart, well-informed choices. In other words, every time you buy the “right stuff” you are sending a message. Pretty simple - and very powerful. (Did you know WalMart only stocks hormone-free milk? And not because of some corporate mission or directive. No, it was a response to consumer demand.) I have never thought about my grocery shopping habits as votes. But I like thinking of it that way.

I also like what the movie did for my teen-aged kids. It got them thinking about making smarter food choices. Watching them process the film’s information, ask questions and start to change (or consider changing) habits and behavior patterns has been rewarding. And empowering, for all of us.

Sometimes having a meaningful impact feels too big and too impossible. Other times making a difference can be only a smart choice away.

- Stephanie Ross
Empoword co-Founder and CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer)