Thank you Participant Media. The production company, founded in 2004 by original Ebay employee Jeff Skoll, is working overtime to finance and distribute films that are not only informative, but that also carry a heavy social relevance. After only 2 years in business (2004-2006), Participant Media’s films (then Participant Productions) were nominated for a total of 11 Academy Awards. Participant has been a driving force behind films such as An Inconvenient Truth, Syriana and Darfur Now. Participant Media’s latest offering is Emmy-winner Robert Kenner’s documentary, Food, Inc.
The film takes on the task of unveiling problems associated with large-scale factory farming and unfair practices within the food industry. Beef and poultry manufacturing is explored as are corn and seed production. Food, Inc is anchored by the narration of authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, two of America’s long-time critics of the food industry. It is the mission of the film to show you, the supermarket navigator and ultimate nutrition decision maker, how your food gets from its origin point to your plate. The expectation is that the film is riddled with shots of animals being dragged, hung up and inhumanely slaughtered. This is not the case. There are brief shots of animals being roughed around (particularly chickens and pigs) but no long and lingering shots of the actual industrial slaughter of numerous animals. It is difficult to say all the things that the film does right, but, documentaries such as this demand a call to action. How effective a given film of this nature is depends on whether or not that call to action is answered by the audience. That being said, Food, Inc will, without a doubt, make you cringe, make you angry and make you see the way you eat in a new context.
Food, Inc sheds light on the little-known unfair practices involving immigrants working in the meat packing industry. I won’t spoil it here but the exploitation of these workers and the overall degeneration of the entire industry is particularly scary. The interior shots of the chicken houses, both before and after the multinational companies pick up their birds, are harrowing and shocking. I give the filmmakers behind Food, Inc much credit for crafting a film that is very upsetting, even without the extreme close ups of inhumane animal slaughter. Pollan and Schlosser’s narration is informative and it keeps the film moving at a pace suited for theater-goers who find themselves typically bored by documentaries. Statistics are offered, but they are not used to the point of overkill. The interviews are varied, from one of the executives at Stonyfield Farms to farmers who are both attempting to combat the industrialization of the food industry and those who are being brought down by it. The interviews involving farmers who maintain small farms and healthy practices (cows still eat grass, not corn), are among the film’s best.
The parts of Food, Inc involving organics and Stonyfield Farms are very interesting. We see how consumers, particularly those shopping at Wal-Mart, helped bring organic Stonyfield dairy products to the mega-chain’s shelves. This adds to the credibility of the film’s statement that we, as consumers, are ultimately responsible for not only the way we eat but the types of foods readily available. When organic foods became popular, Wal-Mart responded to the consumer demand by negotiating a major contract with Stonyfield Farms.
I found myself wishing the film offered more alternatives to the health hazards caused by industrialized food practices. The pathos generated by the testimony of the woman whose son died of a new form of e. coli, the result of unsafe food practices and a hamburger made of soon-to-be-recalled ground beef (again, cows eat grass, not corn), had me wondering what meat alternatives there were. I, for one, don’t want to consume meat filler made from ammonia (to kill said strains of e. coli) when I eat a burger. There is a family in the film that, due to financial strain, is relegated to fast food. This segment is meant to advance the thought that a head of lettuce is more expensive than a double cheeseburger so, if hungry, which would the average person choose? I found this part of the film to be too brief and a bit unnecessary. The intention of Food, Inc is not to solve the problem of fast food but, rather, the types of food found in grocery stores. I also found the latter sections of the documentary concerning Monsanto and the company’s unfair practices involving seeds to be confusing and a bit jumbled. My biggest gripe is that I wish, in addition to the overall suggestions that were made, more specific solutions were offered to help affect additional changes in food purchasing.
Let it be on record that just this morning I went to the farmer’s market instead of my usual trip to the supermarket to buy produce. Food, Inc, like many documentaries, is only as good as the change it inspires in its viewers. That being said, this documentary is well done and very effective. It is tailor made for those who aren’t fans of the documentary style of filmmaking and it is one of the most accessible films of its kind that I have seen recently. The tagline is true: you probably will see dinner differently after seeing the film. Food, Inc is engaging and its entire setup is designed to spread awareness, which will hopefully spread some outrage, which in turn will spark lifestyle changes. This documentary comes highly recommended and is another worthy entry in the Participant Media catalog.
Rating: 
