As someone who grows his own food and sustains his family of five for a good portion of the year, I am very sympathetic to the arguments against the corporate food industry's excesses. As someone who grew up in Southern Wisconsin amongst the corn fields and dairy farms I can understand what the loss of the family farm means to our country. Living in a time when the closest thing many kids come to a vegetable are french fries, I implore everyone to put down that dang Hot Pocket and find yourself an organic pear.

What I'm getting to is that the film makers had my ear.

And they lost it.

This film, while it has some salient points to make, overplays its hand. Director Robert Kenner manipulates and offers half arguments and incomplete evidence in order to paint corporate food to be just a little crueler than John Wayne Gacy let loose in the daycare. When they flashed the murky smokestacks of a factory smothering out a fading sunset while playing haunting music to show the ominous threat of evil corporations I thought I accidentally started watching some of Glenn Beck's backdrop footage.

Instead of a level argument, Kenner is satisfied with throwing down charges and insinuations and failing to provide both sides. One example is when he introduces the audience to a chicken farmer who insists on penning her birds in an open sided barn. Perdue, who buys her goods, has a rule that her barns must be closed-sided. This means the birds are literally kept in the dark. Its not the most humane way to house birds, obviously. It is revealed that the farmer is later dumped by Perdue for not following their orders.

Kenner gives the farmer's side of the story and then explains Perdue refused to be interviewed for the film. Of course they did! Most corporations don't willingly open themselves up to independent documentary film makers. Let alone one's that are expressly trying to demonize their business.

I hate the phrase "they refused to be interviewed" implies the company defiantly refused. Heck, for all this tells us, he called once or twice, talked to a receptionist who didn't know him and that's all.

Listen, corporate food for the most part makes utter crap. There is a reason why poor people are so fat. The food they eat is "food" and consuming chemical clods of crud has an impact on one's biology. Corporate food also produces pretty good foods as well and they make a ton of it.

I say, instead of dropping five bucks on renting this DVD, go buy an organic fruit or veggie. It will do you better and it will help your local farmer.




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Beyond the Gates of Splendor (2002)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)


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Labels: documentary, film, movie review, politics