Food, Inc. is a movie about what goes into the food we eat and promises to be an eye opener for a lot of people. The trailer makes it look shocking, but with a hopeful spin that we can do something to reverse the over-processing of our food supply.
I can’t wait to see this, and want to take my entire family.
I agree that this movie looks very interesting. I am hoping it lights a fire under the people who see it and start buying more organic foods which in turn increases demand and will make it more economical when the supply follows the demand.
Looks excellent.
Michael Pollen is the man for me on these issues.
Changed the way I look at food after I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma.
Will definitely go see.
Should also mention for folks interested in the subject that The Future of Food relased in 2004 is like a prequel to Food, inc. Not quite on the same scale as food, inc. but interesting nonetheless.
A lot of hard science about GMOs, incesticides, oil and food, etc… if studying organic compounds floats your boat. The Future of Food - Introduction - YouTube" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Directed by Deborah Koons Garcia, Jerry’s last wife. Amazon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Michel,
Have your read his latest (2008), In Defense of Food?
Takes on the FDA and the “food science” movement that lead to our national obsession with the idea that “low fat” and “low carb” food products created in labratories are better than good 'ol FOOD. Good read.
In quite a few restaurants I’ve been to in Germany there are footnotes for “coloring”, “conservatives” and all that stuff, next to each entry on the menu.
EDIT: found a quick example (the website is less than spectacular) of what I mean. Item #5 (Farbstoff) means “coloring”, etc.
That it’s not necessarily impossible for restaurants to move towards full disclosure, at least those with set menus.
The current spin is to focus on calories, calories, calories - something I personally find largely irrelevant. Hopefully we will move away from that and get into the interesting stuff.
I am about 1/4 of the way through Omnivore’s Dilemma, and it seems that a lot of board members have read this book already. Have any of you seen Food, Inc.? I for one am a bit apprehensive: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, I may need an air sickness bag to see this movie.
A not-so-funny story that happened to me as I was visiting a friend. We started talking about food and how bad (for your body and life expectancy) processed food is. So that friend tells me: “I agree completely and that’s why I’ve stayed away from processed food for at least 10 years”. Fine.
But then I realized she was merely talking about the stuff that you put in the microwave and a “meal” is supposed to come out of it. Because we had the following situations:
ok, what about lunch? … they sell fast food there, we’ll have that (we had burgers)
toast in the morning with… margarine and cheez wiz (sorry that stuff HORRIFIES the crap out of me
packing sandwiches for lunch, we made some chicken sandwiches with “chicken” that is sliced to the thinness of cigarette paper and still has the blue/green hue of all the conservatives they used (warning: contains less than 1% chicken)
Etc etc.
That really scared me. I think people are SO disconnected from what REAL FOOD is that they think they can eat all that crap and still stay away from the bad stuff.
I finally watched this movie. Enlightening, but not surprising. I really question the accuracy and integrity of ‘organic’ products, however - are they truly as portrayed? What watchful eye or organization can realistically force them to prove they are organic?
The meat portions of the movie are just terrible to watch.
The meat portions are tough to watch. I believe that the USDA regulates what is and what is not organic. Free range, I am not certain if there are regulations on that.
It has been a while since I have watched the movie, but one thing that bothered me then and still does, was the filmmakers asserting that organic/free range chicken is safer to eat. There is no conclusive evidence that this is true. Also, many of the articles that I have read have indicated that there are actually higher instance of Salmonella and C. jejuni in the free range/organic vs “factory farm,” raised chicken. I don’t work for Tyson or a large chicken hatchery, but I just have an issue with the propagation of these food myths (HFCS being another example).
The issue is that our food is so regulated and controlled and small in scope (like Monsanto being responsible for basically 99% of the corn in the world) that our systems can’t handle small amount of naturally occurring bacteria anymore. From drinking out of the hose to eating a chicken your Uncle Bud killed that day, and de-feathered and ‘cleaned’ outside the house, combined with excessive amounts of antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers, we’re actually turning into a fully clinical society. I wonder how that will turn out in the long run…
I am not sure that our food supply is more dangerous because we have a depressed immune system compared to ____ years ago, or because many bacteria/viruses have acquired new and more powerful virulence factors. I would guess it is more a function of the latter. But, I am not an epidemiologist either.
In the last 15 years or so, post college years, I have pretty much stopped eating processed foods as a general rule(It is damn near impossible to stop doing so entirely these days). If it comes in a box or can and the last few ingredients are things that I can’t pronounce much less figure out what they are, I don’t want to eat it. Still not perfect as I do use mass produced condiments and a handle of other things at times, and when really hungry and in a hurry I will occasionally hit up a fast food place like Taco Bell, or Wendy’s. That said, almost every night of the week I cook dinner for us, and almost always it involves fresh vegetables from my own garden when in season, from the grocery store or market when not, raw meats, and some grocery store starches like rice and pasta if I don’t make my own(I don’t make my own rice ). I often go several days in a row without using butter or cream, but when it calls for it, I don’t skimp, and I don’t worry about it. Whenever I eat something that is factory processed now, I don’t find it very good. The amount of sugar and salt along with god knows what else kills it, without even thinking about the fact that most of it is so overcooked where that alone is a crime against my palate. I have no idea how much better this is for me, but I have to think it is a good thing. Ultimately what drives me though, is simply taste. And frankly that is the only way to ever win the battle if you will, more Americans simply need to be introduced to better tasting fresh food. The backlash from the 50s-60’s-70’s mass produced convenient crap stamped a whole generation or two, and only now are people starting to get it. But without good food being a real part of our culture at the core outside of places like San Fran, DC, NY etc, I don’t see it changing all that much anytime soon. I really wish we could outlaw corn syrup, to me that is the biggest plague on our food culture.