W6 - Food Injustice

The documentary Food, Inc. offers citizens a look into America’s previously veiled food industry – and the look, for many, is absolutely mind-blowing.  From personal stories to animal cruelty, Food, Inc. includes an overwhelming amount of critical information pertinent to the well-being of our nation – information which is, at the very least, guaranteed to grab the utmost attention of an audience.  The arguments and strategies utilized by producers to create a persuasive film effectively communicate the film’s message, which is both alarming and informative.    

As a self-admitted overly-emotional female, I found the film Food Inc. extremely difficult to watch in entirety.  Throughout the screening of the film, I was overcome with emotion and can clearly recall at least three instances during which I found myself in tears.  The three instances include: the segment on the E. Coli-stricken boy’s mother (now a food safety advocate), the animal cruelty depicted in the documentary (especially the clip in which the cow struggled to walk on broken legs, which folded under her overbearing weight), and the segment on the elderly farmer who was being sued by Monsanto. 

Though I found the information communicated through Food, Inc. to be personally shocking, it is information of which I was previously aware.  While the aspect of animal cruelty was not stressed in my vegetarian household growing up, it is something I find inexcusable and inhumane.  My father, however, has continually informed us of the dangers of consuming meat – if, after watching the documentary, we can still consider it “meat.”  The segment on how farming has changed in America was the most attention-grabbing in that I was not aware of the status and severity of the situation.  Also, the injustices the food industry is doing America and its citizens also made me upset.

In sum, I personally find all aspects of the documentary to be persuasive – so much so that I purchased a number of organic products at my most recent venture to the grocery store (a building I will never be able to look at the same).