Food, Inc.

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Exactly where does that yummy-looking, perfectly shrink-wrapped sirloin steak or chicken breast in your supermarket cooler come from? Why is a fast-food cheeseburger cheaper than a head of broccoli? Is that really good for you? Food Inc. offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the factory farms of modern agricultural food production that is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The film does an admirable job of summarizing the complex web of technological, industrial and socio-political factors that have created radical changes in the way our food is produced — namely cheap, government-subsidized corn, advanced technology and a low-cost-above-all-else mentality.

Although Food Inc. serves up plenty of facts, statistics and journalistic expertise, the faces and testimonies of the grassroots people make the greatest impact. Barbara Kowalyck, who tragically lost her two-year-old son Kevin to E. coli poisoning from hamburger meat, now works as a food safety activist and lobbyist. (Corn-fed cattle feces contain several times higher levels of E. coli than that from grass-fed cattle and some inevitably finds its way into the food chain.) Then there’s Moe Parr, a humble seed cleaner who’s driven out of business by Monsanto’s protectionist patent lawyers — unsurprisingly, none of the large food corporations would consent to being interviewed for the film. The film contains some uncomfortable statistics and at least one literally gut-wrenching moment: A technologist reaches through a portal into the ruminant stomach of a living cow to check the E. coli levels present.

Food Inc. acknowledges that consumers do have a choice, and that we vote each time we eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. Free-range rancher and farmyard philosopher Joe Salatin offers this potential alternative: “Imagine what it would be if, as a national policy, we said we would only be successful if we had fewer people going to the hospital next year than last year? The idea, then, would be to have such nutritionally dense, unadulterated food that people who ate it actually felt better, had more energy and weren’t sick as much. Now, see, that’s a noble goal.”

Organic food is now the fastest growing branch of agriculture. Contrasted to this, incidents of childhood obesity and early onset diabetes are skyrocketing. The very day after Food Inc.’s Calgary press screening, another recall of E. coli-infected beef was announced. These are problems that aren’t going to just disappear. After seeing Food Inc., you’ll never look at that supermarket steak quite the same way again.