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Industrial food is killing us, claims ‘Food, Inc.’ movie
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If you are alive and you intend to stay that way, then consuming food of some kind or another is something you’ll want to keep doing. Here in America, we’ve got plenty of food and lots of choices, or so we think. And although, all that perceived choice may seem like a good thing, there are some groups that say our grocery store shelves are bursting with grotesque chemical recombinations and genetically altered Franken-foods, rather than with the bounty of a wholesome harvest.
My feelings are mixed as to whether we are doomed by a future of highly processed foodstuffs. I have written previously about biotechnology, which is the subject of my graduate education. Agricultural biotechnologists are responsible for the fact that we can grow pest-resistant or drought-tolerant crops or raise chickens in a matter of weeks rather than months. Chemists have developed fertilizers that help plants grow larger and faster and yield a more abundant harvest. Animal scientists breed cattle that produce leaner meat and cows that produce more milk. Even without advanced science, human beings have manipulated the soil, planted their crops and tended their livestock in ways that strived to increase food production, and hence, improve their chances for survival.
But too much human interference cannot be a good thing. My friend and fellow Examiner, Rhea Kennedy, (the DC Farmer’s Markets Examiner) recently drew my attention to an article on CNN.com, which describes how food scientists are manipulating food aromas. Scientists know that smell influences taste more than the actual taste buds. So the company mentioned in the article, ScentSational Technologies, has developed methods to alter food smells through scent-infused packaging that make foods more appealing, without adding sugar or other flavorings to the food. That sounds intriguing and could help people on restricted diets feel more satisfied with their foods. But the article goes on to describe that smells could be added to the lids of baby food jars so that parents would small “freshness” when the container was opened. This prospect seems scary. The more I think about the potential for this olfactory trickery, the more concerned I become.
Another friend alerted me through Facebook about a movie coming out June 12 called “Food, Inc.” Filmmaker Robert Kenner’s stand on the issues of genetically engineered foods, cloning of livestock, pesticides, and a slate of other issues related to the food industry are made pretty clear within the first few seconds of the film’s trailer. Food, Inc. features interviews with “Fast Food Nation” author Eric Schlosser, organic yogurt entrepreneurs Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm Organic , and several other key figures in the food safety debate. The film aims to expose the “underbelly” of the food industry with the premise that if we knew the truth about how our food was produced, we would not want to eat it.
For example, someone speaking in the trailer states that, “so much of our industrial foods turns out to be rearrangements of corn.” I would not disagree to that, nor am I surprised by that fact. A dramatic musical soundtrack adds to the film's sense of urgency that we had better do something now about the problems in the food industry before we all turn into a society of corn-stuffed zombies (my interpretation, not the filmmakers). Unfortunately, if you take a look around, this may have, in fact, already occurred.
I don’t mean to mock the subject of this film. It is quite a serious issue. I agree that over the last 50 years people (Americans mostly, but the rest of the world is no less guilty) have put a lot of junk into our stomachs that we called “food.” I think every society through the ages has had its version of junk food. But if we can make baby food smell “fresh” when it isn’t necessarily fresh, we have a problem.
There must be a way to balance the benefits of scientific advancement with our need for wholesome, nutritious sustenance. I don’t know the solution, and I don’t know if I will agree with all the points made in the film. I doubt if it will shock me more than Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, which exposed the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century.
The film’s website does have a well-thought out list of “10 simple ways you can do to change our food system” that I can get behind, for the most part. Kenner says that consumers' behavior at the grocery check-out and in their personal lives will drive policymakers to improve the food industry. That's democracy in action, something I can also support.
Check out the movie trailer below, read the list, and let me know what you think. I am sure it will give you some “food for thought.”
The Food Inc. movie only plays in a select number of cities and on certain dates this summer. The closest locations to Baltimore are around Washington, D.C. and in Gettysburg, Pa. The complete listing can be found here.
Watch the trailer for Food, Inc here.
FOOD, INC.: Movie Trailer - The best bloopers are here
For more information: Food, Inc.
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