Mini Film Review: Food Inc

I brought this film a few years ago as it was about the intensive farming techniques in America, similar to that expected in Lincolnshire in the form of a pig farm.  Directed by Robert Kenner it's split into three sections: first looking meat production, then at grain and vegetable production, and lastly at the economic and legal side of food production.

I thought it would be a difficult watch, especially when it came to the animal welfare side of things, and it was when they were showing how the pigs were slaughtered.  But, for the most part it was quite a good look at the way the food industry works in America.  Obviously there are always two sides to every story, but this documentary takes a look at how the industry is run when money is the main priority over welfare (both of livestock and workers) and the environment, designed to produce large quantities of food for cheap.  It also highlighted how much of a monopoly a small number of large food companies have over the whole industry, affecting and controlling how individual farmers can grow the food on their land.  While the actual livestock farming may not be similar in Britain, the relationship between large food companies and individuals farmers in the US is similar to the situation faced by British farmers when dealing with our supermarkets.  What was particularly interesting is how the companies have been promoting an unhealthy food habitat which support this type of farming.

This documentary definitely highlights what happens when the food becomes nothing more than a money earner.  As something that sustains us and has such a large impact on our environment it really deserves more importance than that.  It didn't really highlight anything to me I hadn't already found at about when I was doing research before becoming a vegetarian, but it was a good way of reminding myself why I've made the decisions I have.  If you're just starting out on finding out about the food industry this is definitely a good place to start and then take your research further.  I am glad that our industry isn't quite as intense as that in America, but it still could be improved to make it more sustainable and ethical.