In Robert Kenner’s documentary titled, Food Inc., Kenner, with the help of authors Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, as well as countless other farmers and other players in the food production business, works to shed some light on the greatly veiled food industry that exists today. The documentary contemplates the role of ethics within the current method of raw food production, as well as how the methods are largely a response to the growth of the fast food industry since the 1950s and what that says about American capitalism.
I have always been greatly interested in the food production industry, as well as in issues of animal cruelty. As a result, I have seen many documentaries over the years that depict the horrible ways in which animals are treated in our food production industry. For this reason, I was less shocked with the horrific images within the documentary than I was of the overwhelming role that American capitalism has played in reaching the state that the industry is currently in. For the first time, this connection between capitalism and the negative aspects of our food industry was clearly illuminated.
While watching the documentary, it was shocking to see how often I found myself comparing the food industry to today’s media. The reason why both are so similar is because both systems are heavily rooted in capitalism. The food industry, as mentioned earlier, was greatly changed when the idea of fast food was introduced. In order to make the most money, big fast food chains relied heavily on their food providers. As chains became more popular and profitable, so did certain food suppliers who were then able to buy up other companies, resulting in fewer suppliers. Now, there are essentially only a handful of companies that run our entire food system.
What happened to the food industry is basically what also happened to the media industry. In order to make the most profit, media companies began to converge resulting in fewer companies controlling the entire media system. In addition, in just the same way that food is being mass produced and it’s quality can be considered to be going down, many aspects of the media can be seen as following the same trend. In news for example, news reports are forced to fit in with the capitalist agenda determined by the companies that run them. Often, this results in a decrease in the quality of news reporting, as reports often cover noncontroversial issues in order to gain more profits in advertisement sales. Whether news reports or BigMacs, capitalism and the desire for profit that stems from it has greatly hampered both food and media systems.
To combat this, Kenner submits a notion that is very much similar to Michael Moore’s advice for combating capitalism in his documentary Capitalism: A Love Story. Like Moore, Kenner suggests that the power rests in the average person, not the big businesses that rule almost every sector of the Western market. Schlosser said it best, stating “the irony is that the average consumer doesn’t think of themselves as very powerful… [but] when we run an item across the scanner, we are voting! For local or not, organic or not…” Essentially, Schlosser asserts that individuals can, in fact, fight “the man” even if just little by little… purchase by purchase. Often when facing big businesses whose influence is terrifying, such as in the case of the food industry, an individual could take on a defeatist attitude. This documentary however was greatly empowering and hopefully it can assist in creating the cultural change necessary to empower others to realize that each item they purchase is a vote they are casting as well.
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