Key Aims & Messages
The aim and message of the film is to tell the actual truth behind the food industry and the growing techniques that are behind the food production that most are clueless about. That includes how animals are raised and fed and eventually killed. It is a torturing life that repeats for all of them. In the film it even talks about how they change there diet to beef them up to make more meat, some not even able to carry there own weight. This eventually leads to more money for the food companies. Food suppliers only care about money and will do anything to keep it coming. The Food industry wouldn’t be so sketchy about the ins and outs if they did not want you to find out the real truths behind it and thats why some people are so thrown off by the techniques farmers use to make money .”The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth, because if you knew you might not want to eat it.” said Robert Kenner producer and director of the film who is truly a healthily food advocate. Tyson and Smithfield’s food producers also refused to be interviewed in this film.
Ideologies
As there was many ideologies present in this film one that particularly caught my attention was the slaughter houses. Many of the animals living packed to the point of no motion which means whatever illness or disease one had would translate fast to the rest. With the goal to fatten them up to there best possible dollar per pound, some losing the ability to walk. As mentioned by Carole Morison a Perdue chicken farmer one of the only chicken farmers who let them into there stable that said “this isn’t farming its mass production that is taking over” some farmers simply know that it had gone to far and she was one of the only ones not afraid to show the problem. There is nothing that the farmer itself can change because the giant companies have them under there thumbs. Another theme mentioned in the movie was the fact that unhealthy processed foods are tremendously cheaper than healthier foods. That is what turns lower class people to eating, which can eventually turn to obesity and health problems that cost money to live on.
“The animals and the workers are being abused making food.”
(Social Policy, 2016)
Key Storylines
One of the main stories that caught my attention in this film was about the death of a two-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk of Colorado, who died in 2001 after developing hemolytic-uremic syndrome due to eating 3 cheese burgers from Jack in the box a fast food chain. It was later learned that he had contracted E coli and for a young child this is extremely deadly. There was than a recall on all meat and that had to be examined before an outbreak really took of. Kevin’s law was eventually passed which gives the USDA power to close down contaminated plants from ever selling again. Kevin’s mom worked hard making that law pass as she looked to help the whole situation rather than have pity on herself. “I wanted to be viewed as a scientist who happened to be affected by food-borne illness rather than a victim who happens to be a scientist, and that’s a big difference.” Barb Kowalcyk is one of the reasons heather checks go into the food and make sure that doesn’t occur more
Linkages
This film can link to a few things that we’ve learned in class. One thing that stuck out was that, in class, we’ve talked about advertising and how people choose their foods while shopping at grocery stores. The film talked about how grocery stores advertise a “spinning of a pastoral fantasy.” Meaning that most things in the supermarket give the grand idea that the products or produce that one is buying is coming fresh and directly from farms or the places that are shown on the packages. The film proceeds to inform us how these images on the products sold in supermarkets are far from what the products actually go through.
In class, we also mentioned the idea of growth when it comes to food and food products. The film gave the fact that, “the modern American supermarket has on average 47,000 products.” Which is a lot. The film also informed us that meat products are all mostly made from only three or four companies that control almost all the meat in sold in supermarkets. “The top four beef packers control more than 80% of the market (Tyson, Swift, Cargill, National Beef).” These companies have grown so much over the years and are now so powerful.
We’ve also touched on the idea that we don’t really know where our food comes from. Or at least we never really think about it. We just buy items from the grocery or order and eat food at restaurants. We never take the time to actually think about where what we’re eating has come from. The entire film is overall about where our food(s) really come from, how the animals are treated, and who is doing all the dirty work.
Opinion
This film made me really sad to watch. Especially, when it showed when the animals were being slaughtered. In the film they showed both chickens, cows, and pigs being slaughtered and it was definitely something that I would of liked to have not seen. The film also showed how bad the animals were being treated and it made me want to go rescue all the animals and take care of them myself. “There is this deliberate vail between us and where our food is coming from.” Companies don’t want people to know what they do to our foods because if we knew exactly what all they did than most of us probably wouldn’t approve. It’s so interesting to me to know that we eat food all our lives and yet most of that life we go without knowing where any of our food really comes from. The multinational corporations are in charge of our foods, but keep it as a hidden world from all of us.
Strengths / Weaknesses
Food, Inc. did a decent job at trying to dive behind the supermarkets and restaurants to give it’s viewers an insight of what actually happens in the hidden food world. The film talked about all the immigrants that have come to work here because their opportunities for jobs (specifically in Mexico) were taken away. When they come to work here, they’re treated almost as bad as the animals that are getting slaughtered. The film showed a portion where a lot of these immigrants get arrested for no reason. They could’ve been working the same job for 10 years and get arrested and the big companies they work for just replace them because they don’t care about their lives or well beings. The film digs deep in trying to reveal to us what really happens behind the scenes of our food production. The film also did a good job at summing up the idea that the healthier things, like vegetables and fruits, can be too overpriced for some people. Which then leads people to have to choose and buy the foods that aren’t so good for them.
A small weakness, but also a strength of the film was that there were a lot of companies who denied having an interview. Interviews with these bigger companies would’ve given a lot more insight on where our food comes from, but because it also shows that these companies have things to hide. It was intriguing when the film would mention the companies that didn’t want to have any interviews because right away that in itself tells you that there are things these companies do that if the world knew about we probably wouldn’t approve.
“To eat well in this country it will cost more than to eat badly.”
“When we run an item past the supermarket scanner we’re voting for local or not, organic or not…”
“We need changes at the policy level so that the carrots are a better deal than the chips.”
(Visual Anthropology, 2016)
References
Fandango. (2018). [Featured image of a cow]. Retrieved February 27, 2019 from https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/food_inc
Kenner, R. (Producer), & Kenner, R. (Director). (2008). Magnolia Pictures [Motion Picture]. United States:
Social Policy. (2016). [Slaughterhouse image]. Retrieved March 3, 2019 from http://socialpolicy.gr/2015/04/food-inc-18-στοιχεία-της-ταινίας-για-την-αμερικ.html
Visual Anthropology. (2016). [Chicken farm image]. Retrieved March 3, 2019 from https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/visualanthropology/2016/10/25/on-food-inc-and-individual-accountability-for-change/