Food, Inc. (2008)

An unflattering look inside America's corporate controlled food industry.

Director:

Robert Kenner

Writers:

Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein

Stars:

Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Richard Lobb

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Schlosser	...	Self - Author, 'Fast Food Nation'
Richard Lobb	...	Self - National Chicken Council
Vince Edwards	...	Self - Tyson Grower
Carole Morison	...	Self - Perdue Grower
Michael Pollan	...	Self - Author, 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'
Troy Roush	...	Self - Vice President, American Corn Growers Association
Larry Johnson	...	Self - Center for Crops Utilization Research, Iowa State University
Allen Trenkle	...	Self - Ruminant Nutrition Expert, Iowa State University
Barbara Kowalcyk	...	Self - Food Safety Advocate
Patricia Buck	...	Self - Food Safety Advocate, Barbara's Mom
Diana DeGette	...	Self - Representative, Colorado
Phil English	...	Self - Representative - Pennsylvania, Co-Sponsor of Kevin's Law
Eldon Roth	...	Self - Founder of BPI
Maria Andrea Gonzalez	...	Self - Mother
Rosa Soto	...	Self - California Center for Public Health Advocacy

Storyline

The current method of raw food production is largely a response to the growth of the fast food industry since the 1950s. The production of food overall has more drastically changed since that time than the several thousand years prior. Controlled primarily by a handful of multinational corporations, the global food production business - with an emphasis on the business - has as its unwritten goals production of large quantities of food at low direct inputs (most often subsidized) resulting in enormous profits, which in turn results in greater control of the global supply of food sources within these few companies. Health and safety (of the food itself, of the animals produced themselves, of the workers on the assembly lines, and of the consumers actually eating the food) are often overlooked by the companies, and are often overlooked by government in an effort to provide cheap food regardless of these negative consequences. Many of the changes are based on advancements in science and ...

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Plot Keywords:

food | food industry | vegan | farming | gluttony | 

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Taglines:

You'll never look at dinner the same way again

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Genres:

Documentary | News

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some thematic material and disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the Region 1 DVD packaging, the UPC bar-code on the cow is different from the one shown on the theatrical poster. The poster bar-code is 4-73762-52481-6-(18). The bar-code on the Region 1 DVD packaging is the same as the DVD's actual product bar-code on the back cover: 8-76964-00216-5. As of 2017, he bar-code used on the poster is not an active code.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.159 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Sunny L.A.
Written by Nancy Peterson
Performed by Great American Swing Band

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Food, Inc.

I recall a story where a teacher had tasked her students to draw a picture of a chicken for art class, and to her surprise, one of them drew a chicken fillet. I suppose the point here is that we've become so detached from the origins of our food sources, save for the form they take when already in the supermarkets, cured and prepared with ready to cook/eat processes becoming the norm of our daily lives. And with periodic cases of food scares and poisoning, this film takes a look throughout the food chain of today, and although it's rather US-centric, it still has plenty of relevance here since after all, we import almost everything.

With technological research applied to our food sources, be it the humble grain or to the meat to satisfy all us omnivores out there, the drive of course is to produce enough to feed all the mouths, although sometimes things get done out necessity, and spiral out of control when the pressure's there to produce food that can grow faster, fatter, and to shorten the time it takes to get to the dining table.

Directed by Robert Kenner, this is a documentary that followed some of the points that you would have become familiar with in films like Fast Food Nation, whose writer also provided an interview and laid the foundations of our predicament quite squarely on the MacDonald brothers, who had revolutionized the way food gets prepared, presented, and sourced. Kenner cleverly sections the film into digestible chunks, each focused on aspects of the food chain and the products themselves. The stark images and footage on how animals are treated as products in an assembly line subjected to the mass production (killing) process, will definitely shock you into thinking – that cannot be right, nor humane. Will it make you swear off meat? Probably.

In fact, the picture got painted in very bleak terms, where food conglomerates continue to grow in size and profits, resulting in the power they have over consumers, politicians and the likes, where choice and options are but a facade on shelves because the brands and products all belong to common parents. Corporations exists for profits, and are not responsible for consequences arising from their drive to make money. Everything else that resulted from that drive, whether or not a negative impact on society and human lives, can be considered collateral in their goal to feed the earth, and profit from it. Naturally, none of the conglomerate representatives wanted to be interviewed for the film, and that comes with no surprise, especially when their underhanded tactics in dealing with opposition, and corrupt practices get exposed through hidden cameras.

And in some ways, the film too makes you feel a little guilty for being part of the fuel on the demand side of things. With demand comes the opportunity to supply, and make money, and corporate social responsibility is still something relatively new as a buzzword that has plenty of room to be translated into action.

But the film is not all noise in complaining and presenting a doomsday scenario, and that's where the film earned merits in providing workable alternative solutions rather than just barking up a tree. It balanced the issues on what we could do, and engages the audience to be catalyst for change, making one realize that one has the power to skew demand to more acceptable methods of production, rather than one bred on convenience. It's not all serious nature here, as Kenner does inject enough well-placed humour into the documentary so that it doesn't come off as too heavy-handed in treatment, in pointing the loaded guns of blame onto others.

Food, Inc. is an incredible documentary about where our food comes from, and for those without an inkling of knowledge, it would be worthwhile to sit through this film and get some enlightenment. More importantly of course, is to take action to prevent our stomachs from becoming just repositories for Salt, Fat and Sugar. Highly Recommended.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

P.O.V. Food, Inc. episode #23.1

Filming Locations:

Kentucky, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$60,513, 14 June 2009

Gross USA:

$4,417,674

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,606,199

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magnolia Pictures, Participant, River Road Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1