If you are a food nut, do not see this movie.
If you like what you eat, do not see this movie.
If you do not like the truth, do not see this movie.
From Upton Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle,” to McDonald’s assembly line food chain, the American habits of consuming food have definitely changed. In recent film reviews, I have compared movies to their culinary equivalents; however, this documentary is an exception.
“Food Inc.”’s goal is to shed light on America’s corrupt and monopolized food and agricultural system.The variety we see in our grocery store is actually a bluff, for the products actually are under control of only a handful of people with a tight control over farms. The farms that these companies control are not the stereotypical, idyllic farms surrounded by acres of pasture space. Instead, farms are replaced with slaughterhouses. These dark, loud and noisy places where animals squeal and whine more closely resemble factories than farms. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services (CSREES), a sub department of the United States Department of Agriculture, gives on its website the divisions of family farms of large, medium, and small scale. Ninety-eight percent of farms are family operated, but the fries served at McDonald’s are the same at every restaurant. This means that family farms bow down to large companies like McDonald’s to meet the overwhelming demand of the same food every time. That ideal farm where Farmer Brown has his red barn and full green space is nowhere close to the reality.
The documentary explores a variety of topics from the uses of corn, politics in agriculture and the unseen food process. See the film personally and decide for yourself if the information is worth changing a lifestyle. How we continue to is up to the individual. “Food Inc.” challenges the viewer to eat beyond the heavily-preserved, genetically modified foods that are present on supermarket shelves. Munch on whatever, but it might just be interesting to see what actually goes into the food we consume on a daily basis.
