“The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the last 10,000.”
From the opening scene of Food, Inc.
Run time: 1h 34mins
Director: Robert Kenner
Narrator: Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser
Language: English
IMDb rating: 7.8/10
In One Sentence What Is Food, Inc. About?
Food production has become a system of mass production with food quality, human health and the environment all paying the price.
Brief Synopsis
As its title suggests, Food, Inc. is about the business of food, which since the 1950’s has become an increasingly corporate affair. Despite what some food packaging labels may have you believe, traditional farming methods are more-or-less redundant. Instead, they have been replaced with mechanised facilities with an emphasis on producing foodstuffs at a far greater quantity and more cheaply than ever before. But society’s need for an abundant, affordable food supply comes with a different kind of cost. Regulatory bodies have become toothless against the financial clout of massive corporations who seemingly have little regard for the welfare of animals, rights of workers, farmers, and indeed, the consumer.
The Trailer
Why Is Food, Inc. A Vegan Documentary?
From a veganism perspective, Food, Inc. discusses how animals have become mere entities devoid of rights, or if you happen to be a hapless chicken in one of many industrial sized chicken sheds, even daylight. The documentary shows saddening footage of cattle being kept in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). These are farms housing thousands of animals which are devoid of space and given feed they would not naturally consume. As a consequence, many suffer from bacterial diseases that unsurprisingly, make their way into the food chain. The potential effects on humans are obvious and highlighted in the documentary by the tragic story of two-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk who died after eating hamburger meat infected with the bacteria E. coli O157:H7.
Although the documentary is a decade old, sadly, many of these practices still exist in order to keep up with the demand for cheap, readily available meat. Thus Food, Inc. is still relevant today.
The film does offer hope. For a business to survive, it must respond to the demands of the consumer. Therefore, we can make choices that change how industry behaves, whether that is ceasing to eat animal products or only buying locally sourced, organic produce.
Where And How To Watch Food, Inc.
Watch on YouTube here
Buy and Rent from Google Play here
Buy and Rent from Amazon Prime Video UK here and USA here
*Buy and Rent from iTunes here
Watch on Netflix (country dependent)
*denotes an affiliate link from which I’ll receive a small percentage if you purchase. And I do mean small. Tiny in fact.
Official Website: takepart.com/foodinc
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