Food Inc. is the just-released movie, by director Robert Kenner, unveiling the dark and dirty underbelly of our food industry. As the movie’s byline suggests, “you’ll never look at dinner the same way.”
The documentary-style feature shows how the majority of the food we consume is controlled in the hands of just a few giant food manufacturers whose sometimes deplorable and shocking processing practices have not only been hidden from the American consumer but have had the consent of the government’s two food regulatory bodies, the FDA and USDA.
The movie, which features interviews with In Defense of Food author Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation, is more than just a jaw-dropping expose that graphically shows our food travels from farm (or machine) to fork, but it also motivates all of us to think twice before we order a hot dog at the baseball stadium, grab a box of sugar corn popped cereal or select a few tomatoes from our mass grocer for a summer salad.
As a Variety magazine movie critic commented, “Food Inc. does for the grocery store what Jaws did for the beach.”
What is equally compelling about the movie is that Food Inc. is part of a larger and growing movement to ensure more honesty in how our food is being grown, processed and manufactured. In addition, Food Inc. doesn’t just leave you feeling like the only way to safeguard your health is to grow your own garden, raise your own livestock and hull your own wheat. Accompanying the movie is a comprehensive take-action website that helps you become involved in the Hungry For Change movement. From no longer drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages to reading food labels, eating at home more and urging Congress to pass more food safety laws, Food Inc. empowers us with tools for change that you can start employing today.
Yes, it’s a terrying look into our nation’s food industry but Food Inc. is also an incredibly important movie that is worth every dollar of your $10 movie ticket. But you will probably want to forego the popcorn and post-movie burger and fries.