Food, Inc.

I remember Fast Food Nation was the freshman book we were all supposed to read as incoming college students at Ball State. We were supposed to read it and then we'd all have a big discussion about it the first week of school...or something. I never finished it and I didn't go to the discussion. I think I got through the chapter about the history of McDonald's or some other fast food joint. I wonder if the rest of it unfolded similar to the way this movie did.

The opening was pretty cool. It reminded me of the opening of Thank You For Smoking, sort of. The whole movie was very sharp and clean. I liked it. The opening voice over didn't feel so much like a VO, but more like an interview sound bite. I liked that. Use what you have and build your story with it instead of making up a script in post...although they of course could have done too. They could have shot Eric Schlosser's stuff last and used his interview to say the stuff that wasn't said by other people. Regardless, I like how they tricked me into thinking it was done the way it looks like it was done.

I found it interesting that they used some of the same sources or shots as King Corn or vice versa. Very strange. There was one shot that I swear was exactly the same. Maybe it was stock footage, but in King Corn, it really didn't look like it.

I enjoyed the graphics. I thought that really added a little something. And I thought the quiet b-roll of the grocery stores really worked with the tone of the doc. I could have gone without some of the music that went on for far too long in places where they could instead had silence, but that didn't happen too often.

Being a meat eater, I don't know if I'm allowed to be appalled at how they treat the animals at these plants and slaughterhouses. Really though, there seems like there should be a line that shouldn't be crossed. Like if you hunt for food, if you shoot the animal and it doesn't die, you're meant to "put it out of its misery." Making the animal suffer is over the top. I guess that's sort of the idea behind this. It's hard to get into a debate with someone about it when their ultimate argument would just be, "Well, you are going to eat this."

After watching that, though, there seems like there's really no excuse to not eat better. When somebody gives you picture and video proof and evidence that how you're eating is bad, unhealthy, and not good for the world, not trying to make a change to help improve yourself and the world seems silly. Especially if you have the few extra bucks to do so. One of the tags at the end recommended that "you" only eat food in season. That's going to be a tough one for me I think, but it can't hurt at all to give it a try.