Hungry for Truth? See the Film FOOD, Inc.

The movie FOOD, Inc. is causing a stir in the United States. The film opened on both coasts June 12th, and is scheduled for limited release across the country, (June 19th here in Minneapolis). It is a documentary about the hidden horrors behind the American Agricultural Industry and as a result what is happening to us as a nation. Recent headlines about lack of food and food related illnesses; worker/animal cruelty and dangerous pesticides have raised questions for many Americans.

The film has people on both sides of the table fired up. The accompanying book entitled: FOOD, inc.; How Industrial Food is making us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer – And What you can do About it; features 13 authors including Eric Schlosser, Muhammad Yunus and Anna Lappe, who are taking a stand against industrialized food. FOOD, Inc. also strives for awareness of issues in the industry that are not necessarily in the headlines.

Issues include:
• Genetic Engineering
• Environmental Impact
• Foodborne Illnesses
• Healthy Eating
• Pesticides
• Low Impact Farming
• Cloning
• Farm Worker Protection
• Factory Farming
• Nutritional Labels on Restaurant Food

If it is true that you are what you eat, then it is a direct reflection of the state of the health in this country. We are what we eat, but fortunately we are able to change it. With important information that we all have the right to know, we can make informed decisions about our health.

Food Inc.

FOOD, Inc. is lifting the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.

Organization Type: Film
Website: foodincmovie.com
Producer(s): Robert Kenner, producer/director; Eric Schlosser, co-producer
Founded: 2009

Source: foodincmovie.com; organicconsumers.org

Contributor Profile: Justine

Justine is passionate about curing social injustice and global environmental issues. She has traveled extensively in Central America and the Caribbean, and is especially interested in the emergence of the Ecotourism industry.
Twitter: @justine72

If You Are What You Eat; Food Matters Asks “What Are You?”
Here at SocialEarth, I have had the opportunity to write about two important movies that deserve some...

Old McDonald Had A Farmers Market… Vote For Your Favorite!
Now that it is officially summer and FOOD, Inc. has just been released to theaters (and everyone who...

Where the Water Meets the Sky: Documenting Stories of Struggle in Zambia
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of a remarkable group of women...

The Socially Conscious Book Club (Week 5): In Defense of Food -Top 16 Facts For Eating Healthier
I sat down with my friend last week and we started discussing sustainability, organic food and the...

Naiomi

Great post Justine!

I just watched the film a few hours ago and must say it was quite eye opening. It's rather disgusting how manipulative large multinationals control what we consume because of political lobbying and pure greed. Furthermore, I couldn't believe the stats on how genetically engineered almost everything is!

But there was a glimmer of hope; and that hope lies in US, you and I. After all, these food giants can lobby and monopolize all they want but at the end of the day if we as consumers weren't demanding larger, cheaper and overly processed foods, they would essentially be bankrupt. So then the question becomes, what are we doing on a daily basis to make choices which counter GMOs? Are we stopping by a Farmer's market now and then or settling for cheaper alternatives? Have we ever planted a garden? Do we read labels? Etc. Good stuff and definitely goals for all of us to continue striving towards, including me:)

Tristan

Here is a great review of FOO Inc. by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF of the NYTIMES > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21kri...

Justine

To read about the outbreak of E. coli, here is the CDC link,

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2009/0619.html

Justine

After just getting home from FOOD, Inc., (in which there was a large portion of the film focusing on E. coli poisoning), I read in my local headlines that Nestle is recalling 300,000 cases of cookie dough. In the last month 66 people have been infected with E. coli and 6 are Minnesota children. The coincidences don't stop there; Amy Klobuchar (our only Minnesota Senator) introduced legislation just Wednesday, to promote faster response to these foodborne illnesses. Read more about it here,

http://klobuchar.senate.gov/newsreleases_detail...

And go see FOOD, Inc.! I was shocked at some things I didn't know about what I eat! We have the power to change things, let’s use it!

Tristan

Great post! I just had a long conversation with a friend about this subject. She was a vegetarian for all of these reasons. We touched on a couple of books that I think I'll highlight in the book club next week.