Robert Kenner, Food, Inc. Creates a Lasting,

¶ … Robert Kenner, Food, Inc. creates a lasting, shocking and deeply troubling portrait of the ugly, greed-based business of food production in America.

One of the things that the film does extremely well is communicating the idea of "mass food production." While many Americans are aware in an abstract way that their food is mass produced, few have an accurate comprehension of what that means exactly. The film showcases this in an unforgettable fashion, with sweeping, aerial shots of miles and miles of cows standing inch deep in their own manure, endless rows of chickens -- chickens jammed so close to each other they can barely move, standing among corpses of other chickens -- long assembly lines of slaughtered pigs, hanging by one hoof. The film asks the spectator to bravely confront the realities, the ugly, unsanitary, greed-based and extremely dangerous realities of this type of food production.

The film is not merely an entreaty for a decent treatment of animals, though it does that memorably and effectively. The viewer is shown close-ups of chickens' eyes as they watch other chickens butchered, and hears the shrieks of pigs as they tumble, frightened and terrorized, to the slaughtering machine. The film also exposes the human exploitation that occurs, stemming from the gluttonous, insatiable and apathetic desire for money that big corporations possess. The film explains that working in a meat processing factory in the 1950's was a respectable job where you received a decent wage and good benefits. However, with big business' need to produce products in a faster, cheaper in larger quantities, working in a meat processing factory in America is like working in a sweatshop; workers have to operate at furiously fast speeds, creating the same movement over and over again for hours on end. The film shows big corporations like Tyson bullying farmers to the point where they strip them of any sense of self-respect and autonomy of being an entrepreneur, goading them to change their farming methods and buy new equipment these farmers can't afford. Food, Inc. effectively spells this out for you, with text on the screen stating that the average farmer has $500,000 worth of debt and makes $18,000 annually.

Food, Inc. shows daunting injustices of the food industry, some of which seem absurd. It clearly points to eerie overlaps in the Federal Justice system, such as the fact that Clarence Darrow, a Supreme Court justice who worked as a lawyer for three years for the biggest soybean company in the country, signed off on legislation making it illegal for farmers to save their own seeds. It's saddening and sobering that a judge would so cavalierly side with the deep pockets of major corporations, not to mention act out of a clear personal bias, as well as totally dismiss the needs of the working man that provides food to feed the country.

Food, Inc. shows us the helplessness of a farmer who tries to fight the Goliath figure of these companies, after being slapped with a lawsuit for cleaning his seeds and saving them. However, one of the films strongest assets is that it doesn't leave the viewer with a sense of hopelessness. It constantly reminds the viewer that each of us has the power to implement change by demanding change. It gives clear examples; it shows how organic food is a hot trend in production simply from the fact the customers have made it popular and companies are racing to supply this current demand. The film urges spectators to hold these companies to greater accountability, visibility and higher standards, saying that the consumer has the power to get these companies to alter their business practices, as they will, after all, go where the money is.