Food Inc. (Documentary)

          For this week's documentary theme, I had two films in mind that I was very interested in watching. The first was Food Inc. and Exit Through the Gift Shop. After a coin flip, I settled on watching Food Inc. and adding Exit Through the Gift Shop to my watch list for another time. In sophomore year, we watched several clips from this movie, and I remembered it being interesting, so I decided to watch the whole thing. This documentary is eye-opening to say the very least.
         With this being a documentary, acting, costumes, and many other traditional aspects to review in a film are no longer as important. However, the cinematography was impressive even as a documentary. The overhead shots that gave bird's-eye views were incredible. The shots taken of large slaughterhouses and mistreated animals contrasted the beautiful natural land shown on local farms. The camera angles did a great job telling what was good and evil in the movie and helped to make it an impressive, beautiful, and clean film. The content of the film is the most important part however. This movie is a must-see for anyone who eats food. It has become clear to me how important it is to educate one's self on the origin of their food sources and the practices of the companies they buy food from. It is hard to understand people's decisions to eat organic or vegan in today's world, but this film sheds light on some of the most impactful, yet under-the-radar issues with food in America. It was astonishing to see the way animals were treated and how this then effects humans. It was astonishing to see the way workers are treated, legally or illegally in this country. Some of the more trusted brands in the country for food sources had some of their secrets uncovered that they have worked for years to keep out of press. Not only were morally twisted farms shown, but the humans they then affected were. People with health problems from food diseases or economical issues with cheap food were displayed to show real-life impacts of large, corrupt food companies like Tyson and Monsanto. However, besides just listing problems, the documentary also shed hope and gave some solutions. If Americans begin demanding more real food, there is hope. Americans convinced Wal-Mart to switch to non-RsbT milk by showing preference for it. The film also featured the wise words of Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface Farms, which have stayed true to natural growing and producing proccesses when it comes to food consumption. His farm has been more successful than big businesses, and not just economically, and he gave an image of ideal food in America. In all, I would rate this documentary 9 corn-containing foods out of 10.