Food Inc. is a film that depicts the state of our food system today. We live in a culture of food production in which farmers are being challenged to produce more for less with subsidize from the Federal government. The film exposes how most of the dairy and chicken and cattle farming in America today are structured much like warehouses for mass production.
Animals such as chicken and cows are kept in small, close quarters, subjected to unsanitary conditions, administered antibiotics and fed diets that consist of grain, corn and soy. Farmers such as Joel Saltin of Polyface Farms who take a different approach tending to free-roaming animals that feed off of grass and follow their pattern of eating similarly to crop rotation are a minority amongst the community of farmers.
Corn, soy and wheat are the major mono-crops grown in America today. Much of what is grown is fed to livestock. Harvesting and selling vegetables and fruits with a fair market value have become increasingly difficult for the average small farmer due to the patent placed on seeds held by large seed producers such as Monsanto.
Many farmers have found themselves in length court battles to keep their farms when seeds are cross-fertilized. Organic farm production has become the alternative to conventional farming, to avoid pesticides and toxic chemicals that are used on many of our farms today.
Central to the film is the hope that by educating ourselves about where and how our food is produced, we will take ownership as consumers as to how we spend our dollars. We have the opportunity to challenge how our food system is structured and demand that we have better food quality for our families at equitable fair prices.
Food Inc. encourages us to start a dialogue and raise questions about how we outsource our food and evaluate our nation’s food quality. It asks us to become leaders in deciding what we choose to feed into our bodies and take responsibility for our health and members of our community.
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