Food, Inc. (2009)

[shira467]

Posted: 6/22/09 at 1:29am

Has anyone seen this film? It was produced by Eric Schlosser, who wrote "Fast Food Nation" and is incredibly thought provoking as well as a highly disturbing expose on our food industry and what seems to be a complete lack of oversight or morality.

Thoughts, anyone?

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/22/09 at 11:57pm

I read Fast Food Nation when it was published in Rolling Stone. I've been working on "Omnivore's Dilemma" on and off for about four months... I understand Michael Pollan is one of the talking heads in the movie. I'm not expecting a lot of new information, but I look forward to seeing it (although probably only when it comes out on DVD).

[shira467]

Posted: 6/23/09 at 12:46pm

I really enjoyed "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I just wish these things had a humongous impact, but it looks like with any desire for change, it has to start grassroots-ish.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:22pm

I saw the film and was really moved by it. It was really a wake-up call. Everyone should see it. Since then, I have not gone near any fast food and have been asking alot more questions about where my meat and poultry are coming from. Actually, one of the slaughter houses shown in the film was supplying one of my local grocers with meat, so I stopped shopping there.

I am reading Jane Goodall's book on mindful eating, which is similar to the Omnivores Dilemma. I think the way that animals are treated without any dignity is just shameful. It is unacceptable. They are no longer viewed as living creatures, but as product and that is heartbreaking.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:31pm

I saw the film and I just wanted to throw up after and never see a burger again.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:38pm

Blaxx, I totally get you on that point. When they showed that one burger can have up to 100 different animals in it, I nearly lost it. The scene with live pigs in a trash compactor type device just made me sob. Inexpensive bacon, anyone?

Also the way the meat companies treat the illegal alien workers so expendably broke my heart. They just report their own workers to be jailed or deported and then hire new ones.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:42pm

A very sobering film.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:46pm

Not to mention how they killed the animals - I thought this was more disturbing than any horror film I've seen recently.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:48pm

I don't go to horror films, but this film was horrifying enough.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:49pm

Yes, absolutely no respect for life. Chicken so pumped full of hormones they could not walk because their breasts were so big and the chickens never see daylight. It was really nice to see the farmer who did everything the traditional way.We need to get back to that.

Updated On: 9/4/09 at 11:49 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:50pm

And he was cute too

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:57pm

Yea, I thought he was totally hot too...whats up with that, blaxx? hahahaha....

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:58pm

I agree with you wholeheartedly. But one of the sobering messages of the film seemed to be that the big corporations are now running the show and they won't go back to the old, healthier methods of farming and raising animals.

Vegetarianism would seem to be a possible alternative, but for health reasons, you have to buy organic, which is too expensive for many.

What a mess!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 12:08am

Anything is possible, aftereight. I think the film tried to show that if people speak up and stop buying the meat the comes from tortured animals, maybe there is a chance for redemption. I have been buying organic, free range meats since the and it has not cost me that much more.

Dont even get me started on the corporations marking the DNA of their crops and then putting smaller farms out of business by suing them for having found one of their "trademarked" soybeans in their lot. So sad.

The other scary trend is that for the first time in history it actually is cheaper to buy fast food than to make your own. That never was the case. The poor family they profiled was sobering.

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/5/09 at 10:24am

Yes, the scene with the family was very depressing.

You're told to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and then people can't afford to buy them, so they have to eat hamburgers at fast food restaurants.

Not good.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/29/10 at 10:17pm

I just watched this. It doesn't make me want to be a vegetarian. It makes me want to eat organically. It makes me want reform in our nation. It makes me angry at the incredible amount of greed and the disrespect for human, animals, and the planet.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/29/10 at 11:45pm

It was sobering for me as well. What about that ammonia laden hamburger filler product? GROSS. I went veg for 8 months, but am now eating a little meat. (Hell, I am leaving the US. I wanted to have all my favorites again before going!) Our ultimate plan is to garden a lot. We want to raise vegetarian kids. This movie was just another point in that direction.

[shira467]

Posted: 1/29/10 at 11:47pm

That's awesome, JG2.

Jerby - I'm TOTALLY with you. I've made a lot of changes in my life as a result of Pollan and this movie.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/29/10 at 11:52pm

And as someone who wants to be generally healthy as well as keep my weight down, eating organically makes perfect sense. It all goes together.

Denial is a very comfortable place to reside, and I admit that I have sat there on this subject. No more.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/30/10 at 12:49am

Actually I enjoyed Jillians Michaels book "Master Your Metabolism" and I am not a fan of diet books. She really draws on all the stuff Pollan talks about (eating organically) and his handy little paperback "Food Rules"-all you need to know in a slim handy paperback.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/30/10 at 1:58am

I was never one of those harpy vegetarians (well, pescatarians) that lectures everyone about all the animals who were BRUTALLY MURDERED to provide the hamburger they're eating, but I think I've mentioned the ammonia-drenched ground beef as often as I can bring it up in conversation since I watched this movie last month. That's not about the animals, I'm concerned about the people who unwittingly consume it.

The pig slaughterhouse was terrible, but what I found particularly horrifying was the scene of the baby chicks in drawers at a factory. The worker was robotically tagging them as if they were t-shirts in a sweatshop, not living, baby animals.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/30/10 at 2:11am

orangeskittles...i completely agree...that broke my heart...these are animals, living breathing creatures, not products....even if they are going to be consumed for food they deserve dignity and respect..just thinking about it saddens and angers me

[singtopher]

Posted: 1/30/10 at 10:49pm

I'm currently reading the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this topic. The book profiles her family moving to Virginia, and only eating locally (i.e., they know the person who grew it or raised it). A lot of nutritional, moral, and ecological benefits come from eating locally, and it explains it all in this book. I've recently cut out cows and pigs, but I still eat chicken at fish for now. Eventually, I'd like to be vegetarian.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/30/10 at 11:29pm

I stopped eating chicken four months ago. And if anyone ever saw that video about how KFC kills their chickens - well, heartbreaking.

I rarely crave fish, but occasionally I do crave a juicy hamburger, so I don't know if I can ever be veg.

[Parks]

Posted: 1/31/10 at 8:59am

The movie was very well done--I was actually recommending it to a friend last night. I was surprised that the director wasn't a vegetarian--which made the movie's message seem even more powerful. It's really not about convincing people to go vegetarian--but just to make smarter decisions when buying food for their families. I'd like to watch it again (it's been 2 or 3 months since I watched it).