Among people who are concerned about where their food comes from, and how that affects the daily lives of everyone in the world, there are some fundamental issues that are a given: the ills of factory-farming animals; the insidious prevalence of corn-based products in almost everything we eat; the consolidation of our food supply under just a few corporate entities; what happens when organic goes corporate; the looming specter of Monsanto; and the causes of the West's diabetes epidemic. Everyone's already up on all that, right?
Then again, considering the growing market-share of fast food dollar menus, maybe not. That's where the newish movie Food, Inc. comes in handy with its glossy and shallow take on the usual suspects in America's maimed relationship with food. Think of it as the Greatest Hits of our disfunctional food supply, complete with legends Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) back to reprise their roles as the last decade's most influential food figures.
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2009.