I chose to write about the Food, Inc. Documentary.

In all honesty, this was my choice

because I didnt have time to sit down and read a 400-page book, on top of all my other

demanded readings. But Im glad I chose this documentary because it included a handful of

stories from the available list. This documentary was made by Robert Kenner and published

in 2008. He is an investigator reporter and one topic that he felt strongly about is our food

and where it comes from. The food industries keep the production of food a secret, this is

what drove Robert Kenner to produce Food, Inc.. Other than the fact that Robert eats, he

has no background in nutrition. I feel like everyone should take an hour and a half from their

lives to sit down and watch this documentary. This film will be relevant until the day we

change our food systems. I believe this because this documentary is stating a problem and

gives easy solutions. Until we execute these solutions, our world is going to still be a bad

place. Itll be devastating if or food system continues.

This documentary has a handful of themes that will be the main topics of discussion. The

sections of this documentary consist of these: Fast Food to all Food, Cornucopia of Choices,

Unintended Consequences, The Dollar Menu, In the Grass, Hidden Costs, From the seed to

the Supermarket, The Veil, and Shocks to the System.

Fast Food to All Food talks about how the food system came about. It blames it on the

start up of fast food restaurants, or more specifically McDonalds. The McDonalds brothers

perfected the assembly line and were one of the first fast food restaurants. The kitchen

assembly lines made every job simple, giving the employee one task. This tactic made it

extremely easy to fire people, as well as replace them. Because of the simplicity of the job,

they didnt have to pay their employees much. These little details dont seem like a big deal.
But meat packing industries and as businesses grow, so do the problems. McDonalds has

become the largest buyer of ground beef, potatoes, lettuce, chicken, and apples in the US.

80% of our meat is made by the top 5 industries, Tyson, Swift, Cargill, National Beef,

and Smithfield. Fast food chains buy their product from these top industries, as does our

grocery stress. This means that if you are buying your foods from grocery stores then you are

getting the same quality as fast food. You probably didnt know that. These big companies

are full secrets. They have tried to hide what goes into the meet, where its from, and so

many other things. There are many factors that go into these industries low quality products.

From the animal abuse to the chemicals, antibiotics, and diet they feed the animals, to the

cleanliness, and to the cruel work environment of the employees. These industries focus on

three things: large scale of production, small land, and keeping everything running and

growing as cheaply as possible. T=Nothing else maters to them. Not the diseases, not the

effect it has on our earth, and not nutrition scale. Which should all be main concerns when it

comes to food.

Cornucopia of Choices talks about a huge factor that lowers the prices of grocery store

and fast food products. This section of the documentary talks about Michael Pollan and the

book he wrote, Omnivores Dilemma. Michael traced his food back to the very beginning, a

corn field. The government has a policy that makes it so corn can be produced below cost of

production. This policy was made because the powerful industries, such as Cargill uses

insane amounts of corn. Its almost jaw dropping to think of everything corn can be broken

down to in order to make different foods. Corn is broken down and can then be turned in

things such as: gluten, sucrose, baking powder, ascorbic acid, high fructose corn syrup,

xanthan gum, and so many more things. All of these altered products are used in things like
ketchup, Twinkies peanut butter, cheez-its, salad dressings, coke, jelly, sweet and low, syrup,

Kool-Aid, charcoal, diapers, Motrin, and its even used in our meats. Thats only a fraction of

where its found. Actually, 90% of market food is made with corn or soybean ingredients.

Since corn is so cheap, industries have used it in replace of animals regular diets. In cows

for example. Their diets typically consist of grass. But if the big companies switch their feed

to corn, its cheaper for the buyers, and they make more money. Cows arent evolved to ingest

corn, This switch of diet has created mutated bacteria such a E.coli 0157:H7.

Unintended Consequences is one of the tear jerking sections of this documentary. A

women named Barbra Buck became a food safety advocate after she lost her 2year old son to

the E.coli 0157:H7 strain. Her son had eaten a hamburger and 12 days later died because this

strain shut down his kidneys. Barba spends here life public speaking and pushing Kevins

Law, named after her deceased son. This law state that if these industries dont pass the

microbial testing for E. coli 0157:H7 and salmonella than the plant should be shut down.

This has not been passed because the government is corrupt and says that the USDA has no

authority to shut down these industries.

The Dollar menu is something a lot of us face every day. Food that is bad for the human

race is cheaper than the high dense food that we essentially need to be fully functioning. Our

tastes skew around 3 main things: salt, fat and sugar. These big companies use this to get

customers to buy their products.

In the Grass was my favorite part of the documentary. A man named Joel Salatin runs his

own farm in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He gives hope for clean eating and a healthy

envirmonent. He hasnt tried to perfect the natural food system because he recognizes that it

is already perfect. All of his animals are raised eating what they are built to eat. He does
everything outside in the open instead of locked up in a box. His products have less bacteria

and are safer to eat.

From seed to supermarket shows just how corrupt and powerful these major industries

really are. Big companies like Monsanto have investigators that spy on farmers looking for

any chance of sewing them. These farmers can be sewed for saving their own seeds or for

cleaning them. They are sewed if neighboring crops GMO seeds end up in other farmers

crops due to wind or any other type of pollination. These big industries are bullies to farmers

and use their powerful money to control the farmers.

The Veil shows how corrupt the industries like Monsanto are. Monsanto had ties to the

bush and Clinton foundation. Which goes to show how corrupt or government is. People can

be sewed, like Oprah for criticizing meet. Or in some states can even go to jail. This is all

thanks to the Veggie law.

Shocks to the system breaks down the impacts the world has on our food production.

When oil goes up so does the prices of food because oil is used to operate the machines used

for food production. What we buy effects what is being made. If we only bought organic and

high dense nutritious food then these big industries would have to evolve to make sells.

Shock to the system tells three things that can be used to save our food system: by buying

from companies that treat the workers, the animals and the environment with respect. We can

do this by buying foods that are in seas. That are organic, and by reading the labels. We can

do this by buying foods that are locally grown, supporting famers markets and by planting

your own garden.

I have learned and have taken away a lot from this documentary. Ive learned that most of

our grocery stores food is controlled by a small handful of companies. As well as most of
these companies are too powerful, too rich, and are completely cruel to our environment,

their animals, and even their workers. Ive learned that most of the food I buy, that I think is

healthy, has lost most of its nutritional value and has instead been replaced with steroids,

chemicals and pesticides. New ideas that have been brought to my attention is that we, the

people, are the only ones who can bring down these industries and make our world a better

place. I will apply everything Ive taken away from this video in my everyday life. From now

on I will support my local farmers, read labels, buy organic, appreciate the more expensive

food for its dense nutrition. I am now also a supporter of Kevins Law. Learning about

Kevins law makes me want to get more involved with important laws that are being ignored

to save the devastating secrets of our corrupt government. I cant wait for spring and

summer, so I can grow my own gardens and spend my time getting to know my local farmers

at local farmers markets.

Our book tells us that we should purchase nutrient dense foods from our grocery stores

like legumes and fresh vegetables. But what it doesnt emphasize on is how dangerous our

grocery stores can be. A topic that I can compare our book to is how we eat what we can

afford as well as how food that is salty, fat and sweet are all foods that are targeted to our

buyers. This documentary didnt talk about proportion control, but our book does. These

major industries push large portions sizes. Which is another factor that contributes to

unhealthy lives.