Food, Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner begins its rollout this weekend in theaters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I think it’s an important film but unfortunately, millions of Americans will have to wait for it on video or drive a long way to see it. The list of playdates on the Magnolia Pictures website shows plays through August 7 but much of the Midwest is missing, as is much of the Deep South except Texas. Even some big cities, such as Baltimore, are not on the list.
So that’s the negatives out of the way. The film is based on the book by the same name, edited by Karl Weber — an excerpt is available at ABC News — and denounces food that endangers our health, genetically-engineered and other processed foods and the preponderance of corn products in our food. This short trailer tells it far better than I can.
The Los Angeles Times has a good behind-the-scenes story about the making of the documentary and the New York Times has an espcially-insightful article about food and film, calling Food, Inc. “part of a new generation of food films that drip with politics, not sauces. It’s eat-your-peas cinema that could make viewers not want to eat anything at all.”
You might have guessed from the movie poster above that meat producers come in for criticism. The Cattle Network has already responded, calling it a one-sided, negative and misleading film that will lead to higher food prices.
If you’re fortunate enough to see it this weekend, please let us all know in comments what you thought of it.
