MenuPages contributor Alexis Wright attended a screening last night of Food Inc., the new documentary from director/producer Robert Kenner (The American Experience, The Blues). She brings us this review today, in advance of the film’s release June 12.
At this point, if you’ve been paying any attention to any popular food media coverage, you know what Food, inc. is about, but it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher course. This is a standard-issue food production documentary in the tradition of Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation: staggering numbers and facts that produce the intended audience-wide gasp, and just the right amount of slaughtered-and-poorly-treated animal footage to make you sincerely consider vegetarianism, at least for a minute.
In many ways this film does not reach past people already invested in better food and food production. At least, that’s probably what you are if you’re paying $10 admission. It was suggested that we go into the movie with a checklist of expected themes and lessons and see how many were met by the credits.
- Farmers no longer have control of the food industry and it has been taken over by large corporations: Check
- Our government isn’t helping: Check
- Corn is bad: Check
- Animals are treated badly and mass produced: Check
- Healthy, good food isn’t affordable for everyone, but fast food is:
Check
- Buy organic, locally grown food: Check
- Plant a garden: Check
But even if you know all of this, Food, Inc. does its job and gets the point across. Hopefully it will reach a wide audience this summer and this dialogue will move beyond the pale of foodies and food activists. Our food supply is an important issue for everyone, and another well-crafted reminder of this can’t be a bad thing. Check the trailer after the jump. (By Alexis Wright)
