Food, Inc. - Edit 1
Before modification by everynametaken at 17/04/2010 04:52:47 AM
I originally heard about this movie from a flier at my local Chipotle restaurant. I am not a big fan of sensationalizing of serious topics, so I was a bit weary of watching the movie as I could tell from the flier that it was about the food industry (and thus probably all the bad stuff that goes on in mass agriculture).
Before continuing though I should add that I am genuinely interested in health and eating better in general. I am also open-minded but also subject to getting easily annoyed at people that take the topic way too far. That said, after watching the movie I can say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.
The movie is a mixture of spoken word over film of scenes ranging from farms to slaughterhouses to families shopping in the grocery store along with interviews and soundbites from people like author Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).
Although there is a range of topics covered such as the shitty conditions (literally) animals are kept, the subsidization and mass production of corn (and high fructose corn syrup), issues with grain feeding cattle, the increasing rates of obesity and Type II diabetes in America, e. coli contamination, Monsanto's ever growing takeover of America's grain supply, and several other negative topics. There is also discussion, interviews, etc. with farmers who are still producing grass fed cattle, raising non-modified crops, the forcing of the grocery sellers (like Wal-Mart) to take notice of organic products via supply and demand principles, and efforts to pass legislation for better labeling and holding violators of sanitation laws accountable.
Overall, it was already familiar with many of the topics so I didn't gain a lot of new information from the movie but it was still enjoyable to watch as well. It was fairly well produced and while there are some slow moments and it isn't energetic and action-packed I wouldn't call the movie a snoozer either.
It is good to keep important topics salient so that we don't forget them and slip back into complacency. The movie is a good reminder that not all is well in our (America's) food supply. I especially liked the emphasis in the end that it is ultimately we who determine how our food gets to us by what we buy at the register.
Before continuing though I should add that I am genuinely interested in health and eating better in general. I am also open-minded but also subject to getting easily annoyed at people that take the topic way too far. That said, after watching the movie I can say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.
The movie is a mixture of spoken word over film of scenes ranging from farms to slaughterhouses to families shopping in the grocery store along with interviews and soundbites from people like author Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).
Although there is a range of topics covered such as the shitty conditions (literally) animals are kept, the subsidization and mass production of corn (and high fructose corn syrup), issues with grain feeding cattle, the increasing rates of obesity and Type II diabetes in America, e. coli contamination, Monsanto's ever growing takeover of America's grain supply, and several other negative topics. There is also discussion, interviews, etc. with farmers who are still producing grass fed cattle, raising non-modified crops, the forcing of the grocery sellers (like Wal-Mart) to take notice of organic products via supply and demand principles, and efforts to pass legislation for better labeling and holding violators of sanitation laws accountable.
Overall, it was already familiar with many of the topics so I didn't gain a lot of new information from the movie but it was still enjoyable to watch as well. It was fairly well produced and while there are some slow moments and it isn't energetic and action-packed I wouldn't call the movie a snoozer either.
It is good to keep important topics salient so that we don't forget them and slip back into complacency. The movie is a good reminder that not all is well in our (America's) food supply. I especially liked the emphasis in the end that it is ultimately we who determine how our food gets to us by what we buy at the register.