Food Inc.
Food, Inc. is a documentary film directed by Robert Kenner. Robert Kenner’s documentary Food, Inc. takes the viewer on an in depth tour into the hidden inner workings of America’s food industry. The main purpose of this documentary is to educate consumers to the truth about the food that they are consuming and provide valuable information as to how the food industry has drastically changed over the course of time. This documentary opens up with an interesting line stating how “The way we eat has drastically changed more in the past 50 years then in the previous 10,000 years.” which is intended to make the viewer ask the question as to how?
After watching Food, Inc. my immediate response to the film was complete disgust. It truly bothers me how big business corporations can dictate to farmers on how they want meat and crops produced and processed. It bothers me even more to find out that big business corporations use their wealth to influence lawmakers in congress. These lawmakers are suppose to uphold the law and make sure these companies follow regulations in place. To me the most disturbing fact stated in this film was that United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not have the power to shut down food plants that repeatedly produced contaminated meat until Kevin’s Law was passed in 2003. The USDA was founded in 1862. For 141 years, the USDA did not have the power to shut down a food plant that repeatedly produced contaminated meat. This is a scary truth that I’m sure a vast majority of consumers are unaware of.
During the film one farmer in specific stood out to me the most. That farmer was named Carole. Carole really caught my attention because she did not care about the influence of big business over her. She felt the public had a right to know how their food was being raised and processed. Carole was not afraid to allow the filmmakers of Food, Inc. see what really takes place on these farms. By the end of Carole’s portation of the film we come to learn that she had her contract with Tyson terminated because she refused to conform to their demand of renovation. I really liked Carole because she knew deep down that what is going on in the food industry is not right and it can not go on any longer. Her talk about chickens really caught my attention because chicken is a major part of my diet. She disgusted how corporations like Tyson what do not want chickens to see sunlight, confine them to tight unsanitary conditions, and she even goes as far to show filmmakers how the chickens are becoming so such that they are becoming too heavy to even carry their own weight. Another person I found to be interesting was Michael Pollan the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma. He talks about how farmers are pretty much forced to feed animals corn because