The Food Inc Documentary Summary

In the documentary, The Truth About Food, news presenter Fiona Bruce set out to investigate four different food trials that tested the effects of food in our bodies to see whether changes in diet can make a difference in improving health. The trials consisted of an evolutionary diet to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, high fiber diet to reduce transit time, the consumption of garlic to improve erectile dysfunction, and whether a diet of prebiotic foods versus added probiotics such as yogurt could increase resistance to infections. I found all four stories very fascinating, but I will discuss the evolutionary diet and the ranchers diet.

Farmers are paid to overproduce corn, which is sold for less than the cost of production. Much of the excess is used as a cheap sugar substitute in various products, and much of it used to feed cattle; to produce bigger, meatier cows. It is at this point we learn of the unintended consequences of constantly putting quantity before quality, in the chapter aptly titled ‘unintended consequences.’ Cows fed a corn diet produce deadly strains of e-coli, leading to numerous safety recalls of beef in recent years. Pollan at one point tells us that simply feeding cows grass for a period of five days would virtually eliminate any strains of the contaminate, but that this is seen as a fiscally excessive exercise by the corporations. He is presented as somewhat of an authority on the matter, but all we are really told is that he is an author with interest in mass produced foods, an attempt at ethos that falls somewhat flat. Instead of doing this however, a new industry has emerged: one that combines ammonia with hamburger filler for the companies, killing any strains of e-coli before they can reach the consumer. The film attempts to portray a deadly cycle, where untested solutions often produce deadly side-effects; which are in turn fixed with even more untested solutions, a technique that seems quite effective.

Pollan argues that “... taxpayers will pay farmers $4 billion a year to grow ever more corn, this despite the fact that we struggle to get rid of the surplus the plant already produces” (para. 4). This explains that many of the farmers are getting paid more to just grow corn and to over grow them. Pollan vocalizes that “America's corn crop might look like a sustainable, solar-powered system for producing food, but it is actually a huge, inefficient, polluting machine that guzzles fossil fuel..”(Para 12). The corn needs a lot of gas to keep the production going which cause a lot of pollution in the world and, also globe warning. Consumer don't know what type of food or beverages have corn in them most of them don’t even know where their meat or what the animals are being feed because the government is hiding that away from them. Overall, this causes a lot of problems to the next generation and the government still only wants to make money out of the over growing of

They say if you don’t like heights but enjoy the thrill, don’t look down. This is the same mentality that director Robert Kenner tries to prevent in his film Food Inc., where he sheds light on the corporations that control the way our food is being grown, processed and sold to the American people. With the help of Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore 's Dilemma, Robert takes a shot at all corners of the food industry from meat packaging, to corn reprocessing, even Monsanto’s seed copyrights. While Kenner’s goals for change certainly lead to a better America, they tend to lean on the side of unrealistic.

At this point you must be wondering, whats the issue with corn? Frist let me point out when I say corn, I am not speaking of sweet corn that you eat a bowl of for dinner. We are talking about field corn, which is primarily grown to fed animals, that we then eat. The problem is with feeding animals field corn. Here 's the problem with feeding animals (particularly cows) field corn: animals are not supposed to eat corn!!!! As a result we have meat products that are wreaking havoc on our health. First, understand cows are meant to eat grass and other foraged materials. Cows are not supposed to eat corn, when they do a plethora of things happen. The first is that it makes them sick. Cows fed corn become bloated, are more susceptible to liver abscesses, and e.coli. Also, because Corn is high in phosphorous and low in calcium which is a recipe for kidney stones. You must also understand to combat all the damage the corn does to cow, farmers then pump their animals full of drugs to

In 2009 a movie by the name of Food Inc. was released that challenged the production of food we eat. The movie examines everything from the science of seeds all the way through the consumption of the food, the food’s often negative effects on the body. The movie ends with the line “You can change the world with every bite”. This quote embodies the heart behind movie that change starts with the individual, and how they make food choices. This sort of change that Food Inc. invokes implies that top down change that the consumer can bring about change to the seed level. Food Inc. challenges the processes that allow companies like Monsanto to feed the world. We must understand how media like Food Inc. effects this mission to feed the world by examining the movie, the history of Monsanto as a company, and looking at the response from both sides to these challenges made in the public square to better combat and address issues brought forth.

Every year, an average American will consume approximately one hundred-twenty six pounds of meat. This meat can be traced back to factory farms where the animals are kept to be tortured to turn into a product for the appetite of humans. The terrible treatment these animals are forced to endure is the outcome of the greed and want for a faster production of their product. The industry of factory farming works to maximize the output of the meat while maintaining low costs,but will sadly always comes at the animals’ expense.

Today, the food industry has not just altered the American diet, but it has also had a negative effect within the labor sector as well as the animals meant for consumption and the lack of government oversight. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and Jonathan Foer in Eating Animals, illustrate the mistreatment of labor workers as well as the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (231). Eating meat does not have to be so inhumane for example, Foer quotes Frank Reese, who does not permit inhumane practices on his ranch that are cruel, and Reese believes that there are other ways of having a sustainable humane animal agriculture instead of the methods of the large corporate meat industry (238). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only what people eat, but how the government has neglected the issues of the wellbeing of labor workers and the animals that are processed for consumption.

Body mass index, or BMI, is used by doctors and health physicians to measure excessively high levels of body fat in relation to lean body mass in an individual. Having a BMI ratio that is considered above average or too high normally denotes persons at risk to several health adversities such as heart attacks, liver damage, diabetes, and even more widespread, obesity. In 2005, the United States Department of Health and Human Services estimated that over half of the adult American population was either overweight or obese, and many of these health concerns were correlated with a person’s diet and type of food consumption. In an attempt to assign blame for the cause, political and social commentators’ claim that long standing farm subsidies on particular food commodities correlate with rising obesity trends in America. In a documentary titled Food, Inc., opened to audience in 2008, award winning filmmaker Robert Kenner argues that current agricultural policies on these subsidized food commodities are allowing major food corporations to mass produce products that negatively affect the health of consumers nationwide. He contends that commodity crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans are heavily subsidized by the government to produce snack foods that are high in calorie content but low in cost, becoming the prime choice for Americans looking for cheap and readily available foods to eat. Kenner believes that government subsidies need to either be

In the movie Food, Inc., There are many flaws shown in the food industry that can really impact a person’s perception. For instance, In the scene where a slaughter house is shown and how disgusting one of these factories can be. The animals that are shown are indeed suffering due to the poor conditions the companies are maintaining them in. Some of the animals that are shown are seen living in mud that can lead to the animals to getting diseases.

Everyone has the right to know what's in the food that they are eating. It's upsetting how these massive corporations dominate American citizens. If everyone knew how much brutality was required to meet the demands of the fast food industry, I like to think the public would simply not tolerate it and demand that animals stop being designated property in law. I find it impossible to believe that if people knew the reality that they would not want animals to have recourse to legal protections from enduring lifetimes of nothing but abuse.

The film Food Inc., like many other films of its category is not so much of an informative documentary, rather more of a slanderous exposé which blows the lid off of the food industry and its operations. To say that the film is neutral and tends towards more of an educative approach would be a misinterpretation to say the least. Throughout the entire movie it is always evident that the movie aims not solely to educate its audience about the truth of their food, but to convert the misinformed and inspire a rebellion against food industry practices. The movie does this through a tactful approach of bombarding its audience with gruesome clips, facts and testimonial story lines. The film asserts it claim through a thrilling critique of the horrific meat production process which is most prevalent in the U.S food industry and its impact on humans and the environment, while extoling alternative practices which seem to be more sustainable and humane, yet are underutilized. The film goes on to highlight the different players in the food politics arena, emphasizing the role that government agencies play. Also the film divulges the reality that is the monopolization of the food industry by big multinational corporations such as Monsanto Company, Tyson Food, Perdue Farms, Smithfield Foods, etc.

The documentary Food Inc., shined a light on many parts of the food industry that most people overlook or do not even considered. The topics that I found most interesting was the chicken and corn industry, treatment of employees and also the complications of eating healthy with certain family’s in America. Chicken is the most common and affordable protein that most households use throughout their daily life’s. Due to its popularity over the year’s companies have tried to speed up process from the farm to the supermarket. Faster is not always better, instead of letting chickens roam free and grown naturally most companies have cramped them together in a chicken coop.

A direct quote said by Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface Farms, states,”If we put glass walls on all the mega-processing facilities, we would have a different food system in this country.” This is a famous quote from the informational and eye opening movie Food Inc. The documentary was created to help change America’s views on the way they eat and how their food is produced. The American Society deserves to know the truth about how their food is being produced.

One issue the documentary highlights is the abuse of animals and workers by the food companies, in order to reveal how the companies hide