There is a new movie called Food, Inc. coming to the Princess Cinema (the one on Princess St.) that addresses food issues, and 100-Miler Eleanor Grant suggested that a group of us could go see it together. We think that’s a great idea, so we’ve set a date for Thursday July 30th. The movie is at 9 pm, so I am suggesting that we meet at the Princess Café at 8 pm for socializing. Marc Lecompte from the Café said that he will do his best to provide 100-mile options for us. Thanks Marc!Remember, anyone who brings a restaurant on board to the 100-Mile Challenge, can get a pair of free tickets to Food, Inc., as well as a 1-yr membership to the Princess!
Eleanor sent us the following information about the movie:
View trailer here.
Review by Maria Garcia, Film Journal Int, which appears in Princess July-Aug movie guide:
Mass production and corporate control of our food is the frightening reality that led Robert Kenner to make Food, Inc., a cleverly written and well-produced documentary that illustrates the fast-food model for growing cows, chickens, pigs, and legumes.
Kenner anchors the film's reporting with two authors, Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma). Schlosser and Pollan are the analysts for the information Kenner garners from his interviews with farmers, ranchers, and chicken farmers.
Food, Inc. isn't a mindless Big Brother alert, nor is it a blatant advocacy campaign. Kenner crafts an intelligent, visually compelling argument grounded in old-fashioned investigative research and journalism. For instance, the film-maker points to the appalling dearth of government regulation and resulting lack of government testing, citing the fact that in 1972 the FDA conducted 50,000 food inspections, and in 2006 it conducted fewer than 9200.
The consolidation of food production in the hands of a few corporations is another major focus of the documentary, as is the number of people from corporate America who end up in government jobs overseeing the industry.
Statistics and facts roll across the screen in inter-titles - but the high points are Kenner's conversations with ordinary farmers, some of whom have been bankrupted by their battles with corporate food giants. Kenner mixes the bad news about the consolidation and mechanization of food production with the options consumers can exercise to avoid heavily processed foods.
One unforgettable interview will haunt everyone who sees Food, Inc. It's with Moe Parr, who has one of the last remaining seed cleaners in the United States. Seed cleaners garner seed from whatever has been grown so that farmers can use it for their next planting. Parr was forced out of business by Monsanto who brought suit against him, charging that he helped a farmer harvest their Round-Up Ready soybean seed, a product that dominates its market, and which requires farmers to sign a contract with Monsanto that prevents them from seed harvesting. Aside from the David-and-Goliath dimensions of Parr's story, there is the nightmare scenario of a company altering the way people have been farming for millennia.
