The movie Food Inc., released in 2008 criticizes the current methods of food cultivation and processing, especially in the American food industry, for being insensitive to the safety of consumers. The documentary, directed by Robert Kenner Oscar also touches on how other factors such as the income of consumers affect what they eat and the inverse relationship between the profit of food producers and food safety.
Kenner starts his movie by tracing the changes in the structure of the food industry over the years. He explains how the reduction in the number farmers and the corresponding increase in the size of each farm have made the few food manufacturers very powerful and influential. In addition to this, he mentions the desire for efficiency in food cultivation and production at the expense of …show more content…
For example, in explaining the dangers associated with E. coli outbreaks, the film cited the death of a young boy and his food advocate mother after they consumed E. coli contaminated beef. We agree that this is an effective way to put a face on the problem, but the remainder of the section on health presents no epidemiological data on of the prevalence or incidence of E. coli cases. The only piece of data they report is that putting a cow back on a grass diets rids 80% of the E. Coli from their gut without further indicating the source of this information. Also, a great part of the film focuses on Monsanto and genetically modified soybeans. Although there is some academic literature reviewing the health effects of consuming GMO soybean products, the film makes no mention of this data. Their criticisms of Monsanto for patenting its genetically modified seeds, while not, without merit, are not very compelling without a discussion of why eating GMO soybeans are bad for health in the first
Kenner starts his movie by tracing the changes in the structure of the food industry over the years. He explains how the reduction in the number farmers and the corresponding increase in the size of each farm have made the few food manufacturers very powerful and influential. In addition to this, he mentions the desire for efficiency in food cultivation and production at the expense of …show more content…
For example, in explaining the dangers associated with E. coli outbreaks, the film cited the death of a young boy and his food advocate mother after they consumed E. coli contaminated beef. We agree that this is an effective way to put a face on the problem, but the remainder of the section on health presents no epidemiological data on of the prevalence or incidence of E. coli cases. The only piece of data they report is that putting a cow back on a grass diets rids 80% of the E. Coli from their gut without further indicating the source of this information. Also, a great part of the film focuses on Monsanto and genetically modified soybeans. Although there is some academic literature reviewing the health effects of consuming GMO soybean products, the film makes no mention of this data. Their criticisms of Monsanto for patenting its genetically modified seeds, while not, without merit, are not very compelling without a discussion of why eating GMO soybeans are bad for health in the first