Food Inc Documentary

Summary After viewing the film “food Inc.” the way I now view the American food industry and our government has changed. I now see the food industry for what it really is, a corrupt business empire that is protected by government officials and policies. In the film it pinpoints many different areas where the food industry has become an injustice to the citizens of America, they have also been protected by laws and policies, and also have treated the cattle, chickens, and other farm animals with such cruelty for profitable gains. Some of the areas where the food industry has become an injustice to its citizens is in the processing of mass food products that are not healthy, the advertising of products to fit the description of farm grown food

‘Food Inc’, is an informative, albeit slightly biased, documentary that attempts to expose the commercialisation and monopolisation of the greater food industry. The film attempts to show the unintended consequences resulting from this, and for the most part this technique is very effective; however there is an overreliance on pathos in lieu of facts and statistics at times.

In addition to his solutions, Pollan’s modern narrative sheds light on the façade of our food industries; asking us to rethink what we know. Despite the mention of certain inhumane acts in All Animals are Equal, Pollan takes us one step further to uncover the reason for which we continue to purchase our corrupt food. We all know animal abuse exists, but the average consumer like myself is more worried about the best price and the fastest way to get a burger rather than how fairly the animals are treated in the process. Whether it be the confined living space of chickens or the mental and physical torture of pigs, we continue to blind ourselves from reality. Is it purely out of selfishness? Or are we too ignorant to come to terms with our wrong doings? Like Pollan explains, it takes seeing the abuse before the shame of our disrespect can be felt (pg.6). After seeing Pollan’s truth, I might now think twice before eating out and the choice to support organic produce can make a dramatic difference for those farmers who promote the ethical lifestyle.

FRESH is a documentary by Ana Sofia Joanes, she explores the consequences of our current agricultural system and documents the work of farmers, activists, non-profit organizations and business that advocate for sustainable agricultural practices to address the problem. The film presents the farmers from Shenandoah Valley that practice traditional farming by raising and keeping their chickens, pigs, cattle and soil in traditional ways that attempt to imitate the way in which nature naturally works on nutrient and energy cycling. These practices challenge the industrial agricultural model that use a high input of resources to produce large amounts of a single crops/species in designated areas known as monocultures. Monoculture agricultures relies

The first introduction in the film is multiple images of farms, and agriculture of all kinds. Then the author quickly states that farms do not look like they use to. The message, and start of this film is to inform the viewer about the changes in agriculture, and present ideas about where our food actually comes from. The purpose of the film is to introduce to consumers the risk of eating foods that are owned by large corporations. This film addresses issues with large corporations owning all food sources, treatment of animals, and food-borne illnesses.

Every year, an average American will consume approximately one hundred-twenty six pounds of meat. This meat can be traced back to factory farms where the animals are kept to be tortured to turn into a product for the appetite of humans. The terrible treatment these animals are forced to endure is the outcome of the greed and want for a faster production of their product. The industry of factory farming works to maximize the output of the meat while maintaining low costs,but will sadly always comes at the animals’ expense.

Interviews were used in the documentary to appeal to the credibility of the speaker, as well as to the logic of the viewer. One of the main interviews shown in the documentary was from a mother whose son, Kevin, died after eating a hamburger contaminated with E.coli. The mother tells of how hard it has been to live without her son, and how little the food industry has changed after the incident. During the interview, several news headlines are shown with similar titles of people dying after eating contaminated food. This makes the situation more urgent, as it shows that many people have been affected. The use of this particular interview supports the filmmakers’ message that our current food system is harming our health and does not work to protect us consumers to the level which we should be protected. By including a real testimony from a victim, viewers are greatly impacted because they realize that the same event could happen to them or to their family. Throughout the documentary, real farmers were interviewed. For example, Carole Morison, a chicken farmer for the major meat packing company Perdue tells her perspective on the food industry. Morison shows viewers the unsanitary and cramped conditions inside the chicken houses. She says that farmers have no other choice because the huge food industries control and exploit farmers

Today, the food industry has not just altered the American diet, but it has also had a negative effect within the labor sector as well as the animals meant for consumption and the lack of government oversight. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and Jonathan Foer in Eating Animals, illustrate the mistreatment of labor workers as well as the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (231). Eating meat does not have to be so inhumane for example, Foer quotes Frank Reese, who does not permit inhumane practices on his ranch that are cruel, and Reese believes that there are other ways of having a sustainable humane animal agriculture instead of the methods of the large corporate meat industry (238). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only what people eat, but how the government has neglected the issues of the wellbeing of labor workers and the animals that are processed for consumption.

Over the last 10 years or so Americans have been at odds with themselves and other Americans regarding the treatment of food source animals. The term “factory farm” is being coined for method in which animals are being processed in the food system. I will be discussing what a factory farm is, who or what benefits from them, and finally at what cost? Factory Farms have become an institution in support of the American way life, regardless of what we think; they have advantages and disadvantages.

In the paper titled “Factory Farming: The Truth about the Poultry Industry” by Jessica Stopa, she informs readers about the malpractices of chicken livestock in the food industry in comparison to how traditional agriculture practices were previously before the industrialization age. Her paper was intended to speak to American food consumers and bring to light or inform about the severity of industrialized farming practices. The writing was prompted by one of Ms. Stopa’s english classes and the intention of this work is to rhetorically analyze her credentials. She incorporates a heavy amount of logos into her work to backup her own logic, but also includes bits of pathos about the treatment of chicken and ethos by referring a figure who operates a local farm.

The demand for meat in America is on the rise while the number of family owned farms is declining. The farming industry has had to change century old practices like free-range grazing to keep up with the mass amounts of meat that Americans and other cultures have become accustomed to. A process known as factory farming is controlling the farming industry worldwide. Factory farming is an unnatural and inhuman way to raise mass amounts of livestock. Unfortunately to keep up with demand, small farmers around the world are struggling to survive and are being pressured to work for large corporations raising animals using theses factory farming strategies rather than the natural alternative. As described by Wenonah

The act of consuming food is one of the most intimate parts of the human experience. Humans eat for sustenance and pleasure, for better or for worse. The necessity of food is one of the unavoidable, unchangeable facts of life. Everyone eats; therefore no one is immune or exempt from the consequences of prioritizing cheapness and convenience over nutritional value and environmental impact. The 2008 documentary film, Food Inc., argues that in the last half century, the food industry has become increasingly corrupt and toxic. This industrial behemoth is underhandedly subsidized by the government and supported by largely ignorant, apathetic, and captive consumers. This culinary crisis, perpetuated and concealed by agribusiness monopolies, affects everyone. Specifically targeting average, supermarket frequenting, middle class, American consumers, this documentary scrutinizes corporate farming and concludes that the products of such an unwholesome process are undeniably unhealthy, and consuming them is not only harmful but also unethical. Filmmaker Robert Kenner contends that the methods currently in practice are dishonest, environmentally hazardous, and abusive to both animals and employees. The film effectively and engagingly utilizes the rhetorical strategies of pathos, logos, and ethos in the form of personal testimonies, manipulated cinematic effects such as lighting and music, and disturbing visuals to educate, disillusion, and galvanize

Food, Inc., a documentary film produced by Robert Kenner, is designed to inform the American people of the food industry’s darker side. The film shows the food industry in a more realistic light than the advertised and perceived image of a Farming America. Food, Inc. not only uses images, such as hundreds of baby chickens being raised in spaces no larger than a cabinet drawer, but also includes the stories and testimonies of farmers, businessmen, government officials, and victims of the food industry. As the film is being played, the audience sees the immorality of the food industry, feels disgust towards the unethical greed for wealth over the health of the customers, as well as feeling the helpless of the oppressed farmers, workers, and

In the Shenandoah Valley near the border of Virginia, Joel Salatin and his son Daniel, accompanied by two farm hands, run “one of the most productive and influential alternative farms in America” (Pollan 126). Polyface Farm is rather unique in its business tactics as well as agricultural practices. The only way to eat products from Polyface farm is to live next to it. . .or within a half-day’s drive. Joel Salatin is a firm believer of “relationship marketing” wherein the only way to ensure integrity is to meet the man who raised your meal (Pollan 240). Farms like Joel’s are often forgotten or considered to be at the bottom of the socioeconomic food chain, yet customers come back every single week to pick up the food that they know has been humanely raised and is not tainted by the farcical regulations (or lack thereof) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Joel claims that “the only genuine accountability comes from a producer’s relationship with his or her customers, and their freedom” but his business is hindered by the “disconnected multi-national fecal factory” that is the American food industry (Pollan 235-241). Joel wants to be able to do more for his customers, and he’s fighting the system so that he can. Eventually, Joel would like to cure, or even smoke, his meat so that his customers have even less work to do, but the USDA regulations prohibit curing/cooking meat on land designated only for agriculture (Pollan). If the USDA were to modify its

Farms Owner, Joel Salatin, regards society's continuous demand of specific wants from grown food, "fatter and cheaper" chickens and meat from cows, but they're not too eager in knowing what goes in those animals to achieve the demand. While Salatin uses some logos, providing information facts about the process the food industry goes through in order to achieve food companies' standards, Salatin makes better use of ethos as he provides us the portrayal of cows consuming self-sufficient grass; their manure goes to the grass and they eat the grass. He completes his ethos statements by providing a USDA reference, when USDA threatened to shut them down because of the unsanitary-open air shelter they're using to process chickens.