Movie Review: Food, Inc.

I had the pleasure of going to see Food, Inc. at the Circle Cinema downtown. The Circle Cinema is a historic and neat theater that has been renovated to show some avaunt gard type movies and ones that you will not see in the normal theaters. The screen is smaller and the seating only holds 104 people. It is very cozy, personal, and gives you a feel that you are in someones home theater area. A welcome change from the business and marketing of the big chains.
I have heard of the movie and did not think that it would ever come to the likes of Tulsa. I even checked the listings while we were in Colorado and could not find it. I was really glad that I was able to take off from work to see the premiere. It was sold out along with the second showing.

The movie covers a lot of the aspects of the food industry and how it has changed the food supply and what we eat. This was very much at home for me as I used be a Plant Manager for a major food company in a hog kill facility and have experienced a lot of the scenes first hand. When you work in this environment, it becomes a job a lot like anything else. You just try to get the job done and provide for your family. Having been out of it for about 5 years and looking back at it, has been a real eye opener. When I worked in the industry I did not exercise like I do now and my eating habits were not very healthy. So, knowing what I know now and looking back, it is very scary. The food industry is not about your health and it is all about the almighty dollar. The food industry does not care about you for what effects their food may have on you, but they are more interested on how they can make their product taste good and get you coming back for more. Money has overruled our conscience.

The movie goes inside the food industry and covers companies like McDonald's and Tyson and how they rule the market and put the demands on producers. It is really scary how much influence these companies have. The movie also goes down to the lower level and looks and how even the crop producers are ruled and influenced by the manufacturers. How we have got in this mess, we will never fully comprehend.

It tells about tragic stories about how a family lost a 2 year child simply by eating a e-coli ridden hamburger and how they are trying to change the food industry regulations by working with Congress. Unfortunately, they have not had much success as the companies wield lots of money and lawyers. They question how the product even got out with testing in place, but I can tell you how as I lived it. The product is produced and goes right on a truck and out the door, but the test results take usually three days to come back and if a positive is found, they scramble like crazy to recall it and get it back. Unfortunately, some of it may have already been consumed.

The movie was not an anti-meat eating movie, but did show a sustainable, natural farmer who raised his own livestock and sold it to the public, hormone and antibiotic free. This way of living can be done, but it must be done local, it cannot meet the demands of the American stomach, but it has got to start somewhere.

I give this movie 4**** and it one that I recommend that everyone goes and sees as it affects every single person on the planet. It will wake you up and hopefully get you to think about what you consume on a daily basis and how it affects your health. I say we each do what we can and try to change the industry forever, otherwise, well, I think you know the result.

Please, check it out!