Food, Inc: A Documentary About America's Food Industry

[alexb5784]

Has anyone seen Food, Inc? I haven't seen it yet but it's coming out on DVD November 3, 2009 in the US and Canada. I don't know when it will be available on DVD internationally.

Any opinions on the film?

If you haven't seen it, here's the synopsis from the film's website:



In "Food, Inc.," filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of e coli--the harmful bacteria that cause illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farms' Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms' Joe Salatin, "Food, Inc." reveals surprising--and often shocking truths--about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Watch the trailer here: Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

[Andrew Brunelle]

I've seen the film before and it's terrible what is happening to our food. But what can we really do to stop it? Are there enough people that concerned to really start a global food movement? Can we really stand up to Monsanto's lawyers? We are deceived by food comapnies every day and most people don't even know it. When will the atrocities that go on in the food industry come to an end? How will this happen? All important questions to ask yourself after watching this film and other films like it.

[Indiana]

I've seen it. If you've read Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, this will have very little new information.

Possibly because of having already read the main source material, I found it pretty low key. It could have gone into a lot more shock-horror detail but the makers obviously didn't want to be gratuitous. It was also focused around the human impacts of factory farming more than the animal welfare or environment issues (though it covered those to, to some degree).While I think that's a good thing, some people might find it too 'dry' to have much mainstream impact.

Then again, I think most people who will see it will already have an interest in the subject. It's not going to be a toss-up between Food, Inc and Avatar in most cases. But those more informed folks might see this as covering old ground. Both those books came out years ago.

I don't know. It had a muted impact on me. But it's not a bad documentary overall.

[garentee]

Anybody that eats should see this film. I saw it recently and as someone who makes their living off of growing food I would say it points to the solutions as well as the problems. While the challenges are high, the solutions are fairly straight forward... education, consumers demanding high quality food,Getting involved in buy/eat local organizations.. supporting local farmers(not just buying our wares, but physical support as well..renting land to us etc)
Realize that the average age of a farmer in the USA is 57.. Younger folks have to get involved here..The reality right now is that because a lot of people are so disconnected from what is going on in their food supply this is the supply route we get. I have been blown away by the amount of fresh produce that can be grown in unheated greenhouses in the winter in New England... The market is there....Most important though is to believe that it is possible to have a more local food supply..The first step is yours...

[alexb5784]

I've only seen a few minutes of Super Size Me and have yet to read Fast Food Nation. Having said that, I'll inform myself through other mediums before watching Food, Inc.

I don't know how we can improve the state of our food industry. It seems that awareness is all the most people are capable of right now. Once more people learn to become more consciously aware - that's what I'm trying to do now - then we will be able to create widespread change.

[ginkgo]

What people can do about this today is to try to buy all their food as organic food. That hurts them where they care the most-- in their profits. Also never buy food that contains HFCS, sugar or anything like that like organic sugar. Also a whole grain will say whole wheat or brown rice. If it says wheat or rice then that means that is not whole. So that means that if they are fancy and say durum wheat semolina on the label, that means that it is refined. If it were whole. it would say whole durum wheat semolina.

[sirkinm]

Does the movie have a lot of gross or disturbing images?

[garentee]

Originally Posted by sirkinm

Does the movie have a lot of gross or disturbing images?

Depends on what you find gross and disturbing..

[emeadow]

Finally got around to seeing this documentary.

Overall, I found it to be very good. It is not going to be new information for those already really active in food and health related research. I see it more as a recommendation for my friends that are new to the subjects covered in the film. If you have read Omnivores Dilemma, a lot of the info was repeated. I have not read Fast Food Nation, but I suspect it would be a similar effect from what I know of that work.

I thought it was a good balance of heavy information but not to the point of aggressive scare tactics that tend to turn people off that are new to the subject. It showed the current problems, but it also showed those that are trying to make a difference, and ways to help out along the way. I may buy a copy and pass it around to some of my family and friends to see if it might flip the 'light bulb' on for them.

For those scared about the 'gross' factor.....it really depends on your perspective. They do show meat processing, and there are some slightly unpleasant brief scenes, but they don't go out of their way to make meat look bad in general. They also show processing on a small organic type farm that sells directly to the public, so its more just a factual overview. Meat gets processed one way or another, here is what it looks like from two different types of operations. They do briefly cover some of the problems in the meat packing industry, so something to keep in mind. I am not a vegetarian, and actually my husband is a hunter where most of the meat we consume we process in our own kitchen, so my perspective and tolerance is probably a bit different then most.

Anyways, I give it a thumbs up as a helpful tool in making the public more food aware.