Food Inc (2008) [Doco - A must watch!)

**z1gg33** · 31-12-09, 11:02 AM

Amazing documentary about food production (based in the USA) but one would imagine the similarities here in AU land.

Truly disturbing on many levels, and after watching it I think you will feel differently about what you purchase from ANY supermarket and what you are putting into your body 3 times a day.

Topics covered include. A history of food production, Fast food, various bacteria that has been created since mass producing, The dominance of large corporations in dictating what can be planted/farmed.. and many others

I found some of the scenes abhorrent and credit to the film makers for not going over the top with it, but It did strike a chord with me with regards to animal cruelty - Be warned some graphic images

It was good to see some "Joe Blow" farmers with more sense than some of the faceless "business" type people.

/rant
FCUK you you evil empire, I hope you all die a slow and painful death and enjoy hot weather, as you will all be in hell one day!
/end rant

I am not great with words, and wish I could do justice to this film. (Click on this -> link for a better summary of this film). IF you only ever see one Doco, please make it this one.

I think any food producer would find this interesting and would love to hear from any that have to go through the BS to be one, And perhaps offer opinions on the film (It could be all smoke and mirrors) regardless even if 30% is true then something needs to be done.

If you don't walk away from this one mad, something is wrong with you!

IMDB Info

IMDB Rating 7.9/10 3,277 votes

**slickstu** · 01-01-10, 11:08 AM

Sounds interesting Z1gg but also sounds a little "Fast Food Nation" (which I despised to a very large degree because of it's attempted, and to many people successful, emotional manipulation). Hmmm, maybe I'll download this next month and check it out.

**z1gg33** · 01-01-10, 05:16 PM

Hey Slickstu,

Yeah your right about emotional blackmail with docos... and I was swept up in it a little. But I think this is balanced, but obviously with an agenda. I did wait a couple of days before posting so I guess I am/was still affected by it. (I try to be as un-bias as I can) and going by what others have said, seems the masses (me included) feel strongly about it.

I think everyone needs to watch it and make there own minds up.

Happy to send it to you.

**slickstu** · 02-01-10, 03:07 AM

And I'm happy to receive it from you though I feel a little guilty about not sending you anything yet. I'm not a big downloader so you will have seen that my list contains little that is 'new release'. What I do have is top quality though.

**slickstu** · 07-01-10, 12:49 AM

I checked this out tonight, mate, and it's a bit of a mixed bag for me. The first hour is a little bit of a cheat, I think. The film implies that mass food production techniques are the result of large corporations monopolising markets and controlling our lives when the reality is that there's A LOT of people out there and they ALL need food and these are the practices required to get it. I admire the dude who's running his farm old school but the sad fact is that his practices do not scale to the magnitude which is required to feed demand and he certainly couldn't do it for the cost. He admits this himself. It's true that these practices do result in some problems though I think many of those presented are endemic to the US (cheap labor, poverty, poor safety safety standards etc.) In any case, I think the problem is a little over simplified as presented here.

I think the chick that lost her son ought to have been given less screen time; her points are valid but I could do without her sob story, thank you very much. It does nothing for the debate except charge it with emotion.

The doco does kick into gear, however, when it gets stuck into Monsanto and rightly so. This whole gene patenting thing is an absolute crock of shit and the US govt. failed in it's public responsibility by allowing it to happen. I know Monsanto do partake in similar strong-arming tactics in Australia. I remember a story I heard a few years back which went something along the lines of Monsanto introducing a new pest resistant seed stock. This should be of great benefit to farmers, right? Wrong! Monsanto also supply pesticides so naturally they amortise the loss of pesticide sales over the cost of the seed and the end result is farmers pay more for their seed.

There's a lot of valid points here but, on the whole, I wish the delivery were a little more balanced. Sure they were refused interviews by the big corporations but, frankly, who can blame them? Remember what happened to Charlton Heston in Bowling For Colombine? I'm sure their points of view were attainable by other methods.

7 out of 10.

**ol' boy** · 07-01-10, 05:03 AM

Yeah watched this a year ago, i thought it was crap.
Typical American one eyed journalism.

And the Monsanto topic was far better covered on Landline years ago with their GM food special.

**z1gg33** · 07-01-10, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by oceanboy

And the Monsanto topic was far better covered on Landline years ago with their GM food special.

i remember watching this myself. it was interesting. I am not sure about one eyed journalism (I still feel food inc presented facts) but because of my self inflicted distrust of commercial media in general. I appreciate anyone that speaks up/out.

I think its fair to say, no matter what you watch/read it is always biased on some issue or another and the "punter" never really knows the truth.

I hope other's watch it and comment.

**ol' boy** · 07-01-10, 01:54 PM

Well, i didn't mean one eyed i guess, just that sensationalism stuff they seem to do so well.
I'll watch it again, its been a while now. I might even be confusing it with another movie on a similar subject.

But yeah, those Monsanto boys sure play dirty.