Food, Inc. on PBS

[chipy]

just saw Food, Inc. on PBS. i've read Fast Food Nation before but watching it this documentary and seeing it with my own eyes as well as hearing testimonials from farmers and other people really drove this issue home.

for those who have never heard of FFN or this topic, it's basically how our food supply in the US has been reshaped by the fast food industry. even if you don't eat fast food, the industry has affected the way we produce food for most of our people and the ramifications to the consumers as well as the workers.

i would highly encourage anyone who has a tv to watch this when they can. i, for one, hope to grow my own tomatoes and shop at the farmer's market more often.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/

Cliff's notes:

1) Fast food industry reshaped how we get our source foods (meat, veggies, fruits)

2) How this has affected us as consumers and workers

3) How lobbying has caused inaffective government oversight

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

scary shit. so is King Corn.

 

[techs]

I'm watching it now.

 

[Ballatician]

meant to watch this

 

[Don66]

Your food processors and Monsanto Over Lords will take care of you....

 

[WraithETC]

King Corn was pretty interesting also.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've been skipping this documentary on netflix for months. I'm not ready to be outraged about where my food comes from quite yet. Isn't that what all these food documentaries are for?

Meh, maybe I'll watch it this weekend.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Well that was depressing. Much like I've always said, and I'm a little disappointed they only barely touched on it, a HUGE part of the problem stems from farm subsidies.

 

[tcsenter]

Well surely documentaries produced by vegans, Marxists, and animal rights activists couldn't have a slant or bias of any kind. I mean, look at that one documentary "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock. No bias or distortion there. :\

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Well surely documentaries produced by vegans, Marxists, and animal rights activists couldn't have a slant or bias of any kind. I mean, look at that one documentary "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock. No bias or distortion there. :\

You haven't actually watched it, have you?

 

[ShawnD1]

Well surely documentaries produced by vegans, Marxists, and animal rights activists couldn't have a slant or bias of any kind. I mean, look at that one documentary "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock. No bias or distortion there. :\

Eating at McDonalds causes weight gain? I smell another one of Morgan Spurlock's vegan propaganda conspiracies brewing :hmm:

(in the film his girlfriend actually did mention she was a vegetarian or something to that effect)

 

[tcsenter]

You haven't actually watched it, have you?

What's to see? A vegetarian (at the behest of his Vegan girlfriend) abruptly stops exercising, starts eating 5000+ calories per day of food high in saturated fat and containing beef or other meat, has severe GI upset symptoms and gains weight, then pretends that this outcome is somehow a 'revelation'.

Ask any registered dietitian in the world 30 years ago what would happen, they would have predicted this same outcome. 5000 calories per day? Olympic athletes and 250lb linebackers don't consume this many calories per day while training. Had he consumed 5000 calories per day in fish and organically grown foods, he would have gained weight (and probably become ill).

Here's a great idea for a documentary: guy goes the hardware store, buys a hammer and hits himself in the hand with it. Surprise - it breaks bone and draws blood! Now that's Oscar and Pulitzer material, right there, if I've ever heard it.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I was referring to Food, Inc., you know, the documentary this thread is talking about... not that stupid ass Super Size Me movie. You seemed to be generalizing Food, Inc. based on your perceptions of Supersize Me without having seen it.

 

[OverVolt]

What's to see? A vegetarian (at the behest of his Vegan girlfriend) abruptly stops exercising, starts eating 5000+ calories per day of food high in saturated fat and containing beef or other meat, has severe GI upset symptoms and gains weight, then pretends that this outcome is somehow a 'revelation'.

Ask any registered dietitian in the world 30 years ago what would happen, they would have predicted this same outcome. 5000 calories per day? Olympic athletes and 250lb linebackers don't consume this many calories per day while training. Had he consumed 5000 calories per day in fish and organically grown foods, he would have gained weight (and probably become ill).

Here's a great idea for a documentary: guy goes the hardware store, buys a hammer and hits himself in the hand with it. Surprise - it breaks bone and draws blood! Now that's Oscar and Pulitzer material, right there, if I've ever heard it.

The idea was that everytime McDonalds asked him to be supersized, he had to say yes. That's the big deal. From 1,500cal restaurant portions to 450cal sodas, food in America is pretty dumb.

Saw somewhere on the interwebs what an American large coffe and a Cdn large coffee were from the same chain restaurant. A Cdn large is like a 20oz.

 

[tcsenter]

I was referring to Food, Inc., you know, the documentary this thread is talking about... not that stupid ass Super Size Me movie. You seemed to be generalizing Food, Inc. based on your perceptions of Supersize Me without having seen it.

Ehh, the production company is the same one that was responsible for An Inconvenient Truth, which has become the gold standard for documentaries which conveniently neglect to tell the truth. And given that its on PBS, all the more reason to believe its an advocacy piece.

 

[tcsenter]

Saw somewhere on the interwebs what an American large coffe and a Cdn large coffee were from the same chain restaurant. A Cdn large is like a 20oz.

I get convenience store coffee all the time, never from the trendy coffee house chains (I can't stand the bitter dark roasts that are the staple/mainstay of the trendy coffee houses). 20 oz is the largest cup size I've ever seen.

 

[Locut0s]

ehh, the production company is the same one that was responsible for an inconvenient truth, which has become the gold standard for documentaries which conveniently neglect to tell the truth. And given that its on pbs, all the more reason to believe its an advocacy piece.

<---- p&n

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I'm fairly conservative but you're clearly just trying to stick your head in the sand over the whole thing. Attacking the content (without having even seen it) based on its production company and the network it's on is pretty fucking weak. It gives you reason to watch with a guarded eye, but you're just playing ignorant if you want to flat out ignore everything it says.

I believe the documentary could have been done better, or had been more meaningful if it had addressed the vast economic ramifications of restructuring our maximum cheap highly centralized near vertical monopoly system, but the massive problems with the current system the film presents remain whether they chose to acknowledge the counterpoints or not.

 

[tcsenter]

OK, just for you, I'll watch it before proclaiming that I was, in fact, correct about it.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I think it's available on Netflix. :awe:

 

[grohl]

yes its on Netflix instant watch. I found it thought-provoking. Then I promptly forgot about it.

 

[techs]

A bunch or head (not sure what you call it) of broccoli is 1.29. Yet for 1.00 you can buy a double cheeseburger, due to agricultural subsidies?
That just shocked me because I never really thought about it.

 

[edro]

The rich get healthier and the poor get fatter.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Americans like to think they have economic freedom, but the fact is that industry protectionism (subsidising industry, unions etc) is every bit as bad in the USA as it is in China.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Americans like to think they have economic freedom, but the fact is that industry protectionism (subsidising industry, unions etc) is every bit as bad in the USA as it is in China.

We can apply this sentence to the cable/telco industries as well.

End subsidies. Great way to start cutting government spending.