June’s Green Screen: Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., producer-director Robert Kenner and investigative authors Eric
Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) lift the veil on the U.S. food industry – an industry that has often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihoods of American farmers, the safety of workers and our own environment. Through the use of animation and compelling graphics, the filmmakers expose the highly mechanized, Orwellian underbelly that’s been deliberately hidden from the American consumer.

The film reveals how a handful of corporations control our nation’s food supply. Though the companies try to maintain the myth that our food still comes from farms with red barns and white picket fences, our food is actually raised on massive “factory farms” and processed in mega industrial plants. The animals grow fatter faster and are designed to fit the machines that slaughter them.
Tomatoes are bred to be shipped without bruising and to stay edible for months. The system is highly productive, and Americans are spending less on food than ever before. But at what cost?

Food, Inc. takes us from seed to supermarket, giving us a glimpse at how our food is grown and raised in America. When a handful of corporations control the whole industry and regulatory agencies such as the USDA and the FDA prove incapable of, well, regulating, we’re left with a very large, very frightening mess. Food production today has more to do with work performed in laboratories than work out on the farm. With the help of modern technology, we now have bigger-breasted chickens and insecticide-resistant soybean seeds. Of course, these unnaturally top-heavy chickens can barely walk three feet and the company that patented the insecticide-resistant soybeans is the same company that brought us DVT and Agent Orange. In addition to these “advancements” in food technology, we also have new strains of e coli, which causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually, and have become a nation riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

We found this film fascinating! From the history of slaughterhouses and genetically modified produce to the inside of a cow’s digestive-track and the standard practice of cleaning and reusing soybean seeds, we learned a lot. We left the theatre with lots of questions and very little appetite, but also feeling empowered. The film reminds us that as consumers, we have the power to vote for change with every meal. Each time we buy something at the store and that little barcode is scanned by the machine, we’re telling the store what type of food we want to eat. By making the right choices, our purchases can truly force the food industry to take notice and make positive changes. Use your dollars to vote for food that’s nutritious and naturally grown by workers who are treated respectfully and who treat the planet with the same respect. Together, we can do it!