Film review: Food, Inc.

Viewer discretion is advised. Contains disturbing scenes of what’s really on your dinner plate. Do not watch this movie if you are not prepared to be changed. Don’t be frightened. Watching this film will not make you vegetarian.

Food, Inc. is the Academy Award® nominated documentary that deconstructs the business of food, starting with the meat industry then turning to the GMO controversy, starring Monsanto. It exposes the backwards practices and motives that have led to chickens that have such big breasts they can’t stand up, an upsurge in E.coli because we are feeding our cattle corn that they were never meant to eat, the loss of small farms across America to monstrous businesses who have been sanctioned by the government to own patents on food, and the exponential rise in obesity and food-borne illness in our society. This movie exposes the devolution of our food—our source of life—into just another profitable business.

Food Inc. is not a feel-good movie because, well, that just wouldn’t rouse the type of change we need. Instead it’s an eye-opening film that exposes the disturbing facts about the food that’s on your plate. But it’s not all Debbie-downer-doomsday either. It also serves up a lot of fascinating insights and practical alternatives to the mainstream food choices we make; they even have a great website that offers tips and petitions you can sign. For those of you who have a passion about marketing and branding like I do, you’ll love the segments on how big brands are buying up small brands that stand for something natural and communal. They know sustainable products are profitable products. For example, Kellogg’s owns Kashi and Colgate owns Tom’s of Maine. For those of you who are animal lovers, there are some scenes that will certainly be difficult to watch, but trust me, watch them. The one in particular that has stayed with me was the look in a cow’s eyes as she was hauled off to slaughter. The look of fear and anxiety in her eyes was familiar to me; I’ve seen it in my dog’s eyes before. Just that connection made me feel for the animals that are so unnecessarily treated as beef when they are still cows. It actually opened my heart to all animals who are a critical part of our eco-system and a sustainable future on this planet. Strangely, I even love my dog more.

After watching the film, I was certain that it would only be a matter of weeks before I fell back into my old habits and beliefs. I was wrong. So wrong. If anything, it has had the opposite effect. I am increasingly motivated to live a changed life. It’s been a little over six months since my husband, Bruce, and I watched this film together. Since then we have only purchased meat for our household twice (it was organic and locally raised), started grocery shopping at a small local grocer (Sunnyside Market in Kensington) and started seriously lamenting the lost connection between humans and the natural world.*

If you truly absorb everything this movie has to offer, you will be changed and changed for the better. If not, it will at the very least give you some food for thought. Just don’t be a jack-ass and not watch it because you are afraid of change.

*Not to freak anyone out, but watching this movie has prompted some very serious discussions between Bruce and I about our future and where we want to live. We’ve come to the still unbelievable decision that we want to live closer to the land, so have decided to minimize the scale of some much-needed renovations to our inner city home so we can save to buy some property outside of the city in the next ten years or so.

Today’s post was written by Sona Khosla. While Sona cares about a lot of things like brand integrity, George Michael and a good BBC costume drama, it’s her desire to find meaning and live intentionally that inspires me. You can catch her blogging regularly at www.sonakhosla.com.

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