In the documentary Food Inc., directed by Robert Kenner, the unsanitary, unethical and unjust routines of the food production corporations are unveiled in an eye-opening and shocking presentation. Since the demands of the fast food industry are growing, food production corporations are forced to come up with more effective means to supply the product that fast food industries desire. However, how this gets accomplished is by brushing aside the ethical and sanitary components in order to produce product more efficiently. The government institutions, such as the FDA and USDA that are supposed to protect Americans from the potentially harmful food look the other way in order to keep the profit afforded by production alive. The main message of this documentary is that the quality of the food produced, and treatment, safety of animals and consumers, and the preservation of environment through healthy means of production are at an all-time low due to the high demands of the product. These elements are over-looked by the greedy eye of the government and powerful companies that own the food industry in order to keep producing cheap, disgusting food for the unaware American. In addition, the food the American’s consume is genetically modified by science to achieve the goal of maximum production for the cheapest cost.
The way that this documentary makes this statement is by taking an inside view to the companies that fall below the standards. For example, viewers witness a Purdue Chicken company farmer unmask the maltreatment of the animals and also the unsanitary and unreasonable living conditions that are overlooked by the corporation. Subsequently, she looses her job for the bad reputation that she causes the industry. This documentary also makes viewers aware of the fact that the E Coli that some Americans are falling ill to has its origins with cattle. How, then, are Americans receiving this bacteria from vegetables such as spinach? The unsanitary conditions and close proximity of cattle farms to vegetable fields make it easy for runoff (feces) from the cattle to come in contact with the produce. The lack of urgency and agency that this problem deserves is reveled to the audience by showing how this bacterium has come to affect all of our food.
In order to preserve authenticity, directors of this documentary extended an offer to food corporations to share their side of the debate. This is done to give both sides an equal opportunity to share their story in order to avoid biases. However, this offer was generally turned down, most likely to maintain some sort of underserved dignity. Furthermore, large food corporations probably do not have a reason for the terrible conditions and means they use to produce food other than the efficiency and cheapness.
Teaching Idea:
I think one of the main issues with documentaries is the validity and authenticity of the material presented. Documentaries that attack a certain institution are oftentimes biased in the way they are presented to completely vilify the object of their dismay. Although I do feel that the information in Food Inc. is presented in a genuine manner, I feel it is near impossible to not have biases on the subject of the quality of our food produced in America. This documentary presents the shocking information, but also tries to allow big food corporations to have their say as well. I think it would be difficult to argue that there is not a problem with the food industry in this county even without watching the documentary. That being said, there are documentaries that do skew information to fit a certain purpose. To help students engage in a critical look at media, I could do an activity that asks them to analyze the validity of certain documentaries and note why or why not they are biased. We would then compare and contrast the components of authentic and inauthentic documentaries--the techniques they use and how information can be altered.
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