Year: 2008
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $34.98
Studio(s): Magnolia Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 3, 2008

Film/Feature: A+
The arrival of the golden arches signaled a change that farmers had to produce food fast and cheap. Once the demand was in place, so too did the system arrive that would supply it. With the help of government subsidization, unhealthy food is now more affordable than a pound of fresh produce. When you’re counting pennies, ingredients that would be used for a homemade meal isn’t as convenient as fast food. What’s the cost of that convenience? Your health? Your career? Your life?

Food Inc. takes a look at farming conditions, the companies who control the farmers, the dependency of corn and its contribution to E. Coli pandemics, the struggle to get said companies to label their food, mistreatment of laborers who work at the slaughterhouses, and the controlling of the seeds which basically puts the farmer under a dictatorship. That’s a lot, but Food Inc. is clear in presenting informative facts and testimonials that should provoke the viewer to consider what it is they’re putting on their plates and take the time to be a better informed consumer.

Robert Kenner begins his documentary by bringing his cameras where he’s allowed–and some places he’s not–to show where the food you put in your mouth begins–and it’s not pretty. Food Inc. is narrated by Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, who intelligibly explain that the American farmer is all but dead, slaves to large corporations who want to propagate some myth that the food you get in your local grocery comes from the local farm.

Farmers sign contracts with the big companies, like Tyson and Smithfield Foods to raise chickens under gross conditions, forcing them to incur large amounts of debt and periodic expensive manufacture upgrades to keep them forever in large debt and reward them with much less for their troubles. Farmers are prisoners to these companies, silenced to speak or show what goes on inside their coops. Kenner visits one Perdue grower, who risks her livelihood to show what her working conditions are. She trudges through the waste and smell, scooping up dead carcasses; running what appears to be a death camp. Tyson trucks filled with illegal workers, who come in at night and take the ripe ones away. The issue of labor is later discussed from the small chicken farm to Smithfield Foods– the largest slaughterhouse in the country– that brings in workers from a 100 mile radius, many of them illegally from Mexico and are deported when it becomes a hot topic. Guess who takes the fall? Not the companies who hires and trucks them over.

An interesting thread in the film is the mass dependency of corn and the creative manipulation of it in nearly every kind of processed food, and how it allows for the cheaper production of livestock-related foods. In theory, not a bad thing, but when you consider one of the uses of stocked corn is to feed livestock to fatten them in these large factories, one has to consider what are the long term effects? It will eventually open the door for E.Coli and a few casualties are not nearly enough for companies to ensure future outbreaks never happen, or feel its necessary to inform the consumers of what they do because they think it will confuse the consumer.

It’s plenty of doom and gloom until Joel Salatin, a Polyface Farms Owner who carries on the old-fashioned open-range methods. They are not kept in cages or stables that pack animals like sardines, nor force the animals to eat what’s not natural. It’s not as profitable as the large operations, but there’s integrity and the quality of that food is greater. In conjuncture with the growth of organic food companies (another topic discussed), it’s a small glimmer of hope.

The last act of Food Inc. scrutinizes the seed monopoly, Monsanto, originally a chemical company responsible for making Agent Orange and other pesticides like,“Round Up.” Monsanto began creating genetically engineered seeds that can resist pesticide which allowed food to be grown year-round. But a basic fundamental skill of farming is being able to keep your best seeds for future crops, but not today. Monsanto has infiltrated the farm communities with their seeds making them so cheap and finds a way to ruin those who don’t use their seed. Saving seeds will get you investigated by regulators, and even if a farmer chooses not to use their seed, or their crops are contaminated by seeds that have been carried in the wind, that farmer is blacklisted and begins the long road of legal battles that most farmers simply can’t afford.

How effective the film in changing people’s practices depends on the individual viewer/consumer. One can look at the effect of people demanding that their milk not have rBGH/BST (Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone-another Monsanto product) in it. Milk racks are now dominated by those without the growth hormone which has been linked to health problems. And at least now people can make their own decisions because they can at least read the labels so you can make an informed decision. The effect of Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me began a chain of events at McDonald’s (even though they wouldn’t admit to it) and steered me clear of 75% of McDonald’s food–especially they’re fries–so these films can have a profound effect on people. It should come to no surprise that Tyson, Perdue, Monsanto, Smithfield and all of the other companies declined to take part in the film. Food Inc. belongs in those films that everyone should see because it could change the way you live your life; that is, if you value it.

I watched another documentary called, The Future of Food directed by Deborah Koons Garcia at the great Ann Arbor Film Festival a few years back. The film discussed a handful of subjects, including the the Monsanto seed controversy and the complex line of traps that have been put in place to steer the American consumer into a food system that benefits large corporations. I thought that this was a wonderful film but was also worried at its limited exposure to those who might stumble on it. Food Inc. serves as that larger vessel. It isn’t some propaganda film to brainwash us into thinking something that’s not there, rather it takes a wrecking ball to the walls concealing information large corporations don’t want you to know. They’re banking on you not caring enough about your own body. After seeing Food Inc., believe me, it’s time you start asking.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Video: B
For a documentary, this 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio is more than I could ask for. Often times docs are shot on tight budgets with a variety of cameras which can give a varied look. Colors (and details for that matter) look their best in the supermarket are bright, bold but when the camera goes out into the world of grays and browns on the farm, the accuracy does remain, but that pop factor of high definition is lessened. The skin on animals and feathers, and seeds, all look as if you were standing next to the camera in many instances, while other times there’s less sharpness. Thank goodness though there’s no such thing as smell-o-vision, though. All of the set interview pieces with Pollan and Schlosser tend to look the best, whereas some of the others can be a bit grainy. If you’re used to seeing documentaries, it’s very forgivable.

Audio: B
There is a 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track but honestly it’s a bit much for what is amounts to mostly spoken dialogue out of the center channel. Some of the front left and right channels are used for music, but remember that this is a film that’s supposed to provoke thought and discussion, not blast your eardrums. Subtitles are available in English SDH and Spanish.

Extras: B
While abundant extras are important for your average film, in documentaries, one is usually inclined to learn more about the subject discusses. The following extras do that by providing additional information and resources for viewers/consumers to seek out on their own and at their leisure whether it’s from bonus footage, or a simple public service announcement. All of the extras are in standard definition and 2.0 Stereo.

Deleted Scenes SD (37:44) Eight scenes include unionizing the Smithfield plants in Cheapness Comes at a Price; the dumping of business waste in fresh rivers in There’s No Place Called Away; allowing animals to be in their natural environment in Honoring the Pigness of the Pig; more on the spinach outbreak of E.Coli in, It Could Happen Again; Tyson poultry growers in Smells Like Money; more of Joel Salatin and a cow’s salad bar in It’s in the Grass; Iowa State justifies poor conditions because they are “growing food” in Designing the Perfect Pork Chop; and Rosa Soto speaks about diabetes in her family and trying to educate youths in We’re in an Epidemic Now.

ABC News “You Are What You Eat”: Food With Integrity SD (7:21) A Nightline segment that originally ran on June 16, 2009 that shows how the founder of Chipotle restaurants buys his food from places that grow pigs in a full-range environment rather than being cooped up in some factory or farm. The chickens are vegetarian fed, and the beef cattle they use live on a natural environment, and are not fed any growth hormones.

“The Amazing Food Detective” and “Snacktown Smackdown”: Stay Active and Eat Healthy SD (3:05) Kaiser Permanente PSRs that directs kids to a website where they can play games that teach them about saying no to junk food, vending machines in schools, and living a healthier lifestyle.

Celebrity Public Service Announcements SD (7:14) PSRs about the Child Nutrition Act, Ingredients, and others done by Alyssa Milano, John Salley, Anthony LaPaglia and Gia Carides, Martin Sheen and Kelly Preston.

Food Inc.:The Book is a blurb on the companion book that can be purchased in book stores.

Resources are a listing of websites for organizations for the further education of what we put into our body, food borne illness research and prevention, food safety, public health advocacies, and much more.

Theatrical Trailer HD (2:12)

Magnolia Home Entertainment Trailers HD (8:00) for Answer Man, Is Anybody There?, The Great Buck Howard, and HD Net.

Overall Shock Value: A
It would only take 90 minutes to get a sample of what big business has done to the food industry and see how powerful they’ve become. The shock value of Food Inc. can be off the charts, whether you see it on blu-ray or DVD. There is no made-up drama here. Just a real snapshot of what’s going on and how each of us are affected by what these companies have gotten away with for the sake of profits. It can ruin any meal. I will champion any film that’s as well-organized and well-thought out as Food Inc. (and Future of Food) and applaud the filmmakers who continue to put these films like this out, because there is a risk in telling real stories that I want to know. What’s even more important, though, is that we watch them.