July 22, 2009 Food, Inc. is making the rounds in art house theaters throughout the nation, and though I have yet to see it (going in Palo Alto soon!) we have Amy Vachon of Equally Shared Parenting (for parents who aspire to share in childraising, breadwinning, housework and time for recreation) with her review from Boston today.
My guess is the Vegetarian Kids & Teens resource group may get a lot of site hits following this documentary if parents bring their offspring to this PG flick…especially since adolescent vegetarianism appears to be on the rise with the CDC loosely reporting 1 in 200 kids (particularly on the coasts) going “animal free” in their wishes and ways.
If kids liked the ‘Ewwwwwwwww” impact of Morgan Spurlock’s documentary “SuperSize Me” they’ll no doubt respond to Food Inc. equally well (it’s rated PG) as it’s more digestible than Fast Food Nation, which I blundered into sharing with my daughter as her first ‘R’ rated movie (big mistake) a couple of years ago.
I’m certainly seeing a surge of families who want to “eat real” as well as meatless kids in our own environs here in California, but a reminder there’s a big difference between ethical choices and healthy choices with vegetarianism…(those kids who “do not eat meat” but instead are snarfing mac-n-cheese, donuts, nachos and other sat fat laden fare)
Then there’s the whole veggie scare of e-coli and such, with health commentary coming from all angles…So regardless of personal ethical and health opinions (btw, here’s what I’M trying for dinner tomorrow, I’ll tell you how it flies!) I say huge applause is owed to films like Food Inc. for raising awareness for a healthier food chain for us all!!!
Here are more “don’t miss media” to digest which I wrote about using the power of media for positive change to enlighten folks about our food.(some, we’re screening in our own educational film fest for youth/parents, see sidebar)
Insightful films touch on the environmental impact of the food we consume (Sierra Club’s “True Cost of Food”) genetically modified food, (The Future of Food) the politics of food, (The Global Banquet) and more. (read Appetite for Profit, it’s a doozy)
You may end up shaking your head about the massiveness of the food chain conundrum but at least you’ll see the whys of how we got here, what we can do, and where we need to go for kids’ health and well-being. Add this to your media diet, and enjoy!
Meanwhile, here’s ‘the other Amy’ on the east coast who snagged tix to a Chipotle sponsored FREE screening of Food, Inc.
Food Inc. Movie Review
by Amy Vachon of Equally Shared Parenting
I was psyched to score two free tickets to the new documentary, Food Inc., in Boston last night – courtesy of Chipotle restaurant, which is sponsoring free showings in strategic locations across the country this month.
I’m a big fan of the two authors who inspired the making of this film: Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).
In fact, it has now been over 7 years since I’ve set foot in a fast food mega-chain (except perhaps to use the bathroom) – which is entirely due to reading Fast Food Nation at all hours of the night while nursing my first baby way back then. So, I happily marched into the theater last night, assured of a cinematic treat.
Filmmaker Robert Kenner didn’t disappoint. In small vignettes, he peels back the veneer on our nation’s gastronomic bounty to reveal its very, very dark innards. Taking some of the most disturbing, and sometimes poignant, messages from both Pollan’s and Schlosser’s books, he gives us a visual tour of what it is like inside a dark chicken house, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), a pig slaughterhouse.
He teaches us how just a few mega-big businesses own our food – from the seeds farmers are forced to buy every year, to the crops that are planted, to the way animals and indigent workers are treated, to the lack of regulations assuring safety and transparency in the food industry.
If you’ve read the books, you’ll likely not learn much new by watching Food, Inc., although you will probably enjoy ‘meeting’ Pollan and Schlosser (and model farmer-with-a-cause, Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms) and you’ll likely walk out inspired all over again to make changes in your own food choices.
If you haven’t read the books yet, Food, Inc. will open your eyes in a way that will change you forever – for the wiser.
It was ironic that, after the movie was over, my husband and I had planned to stop off at the grocery store before heading home to relieve our babysitter. I found I couldn’t do it – at least not so soon. The supermarket had turned into a forest full of lions and tigers and bears just waiting to snare me. I could envision all the high fructose corn syrup products laughing like hyenas from the inner aisles while the meat section dripped blood and tears. We went to an alternative grocery store instead, and I wanted to hug all my CSA veggies (community supported agriculture) when I got home.
The movie’s hopeful message is that each of us can make an important difference in how our food is grown and processed. I’m determined to take a few more steps in the direction of conscious eating after seeing Food, Inc.
A few faves filed under our Nutrition/Wellness category
by Amy Jussel, Shaping Youth
Fast Food Nation (the film, not the book) A Missed Opportunity
Food for Thought: Media to Digest For Healthier Kids
The Junk Food Hydra: Ad Industry Self Regulation is Oxymoronic
Bogus Junk Food Bans & Bait-n-Switch Tactics Proliferate School Policy
Test Your School Junk Food IQ With This Quick Quiz!
Will Kids Go For The “FryPod?” Brandwashing Nutritious Fare
CCFC’s Susan Linn: $17 billion Spent on Marketing to Kids
Lifestyle Cancers: Two Most Preventable Causes Harming Kids
Shaping Youth Brandwashing Data Is Larger Than Stanford’s Study
Maxed Out On Energy Drinks? Pepsi Shouts, “Wake Up People!”
Fuming Fuji Meets Shaping Youth: Food Marketing to Kids
Kellogg’s Agrees to Restrict Food Marketing to Kids!? For REAL?
Sprite Yard: A Mobile-Social-Soda Hangout?
Forbidden Fruit & Kids’ Food Advertising: FTC & KFF Compare
Get Kids To Eat Green Using Shrek Against His Drek
Digital Marketing Tactics Revealed to FTC: Report At DigitalAds.org
Online Media Nutrition Calculator Helps Parents Track Foods
Sour Combo: Shrek’s “Apples & Milk” At McDonalds
Sugary Shrek is Simultaneously Stumping For Kids’ Healthy Eating
Selling Healthy Kids Cuisine Via Product Presentation
Media, Shaping Youth: Kaiser Study Shows 50 Hours of TV Food Ads/Yr.
Kids’ Food Fight Turns Into Industry DodgeBall Game
Snack Attack: Counter-Marketing Using Shaping Youth’s “THREEP”
Sugary Sodas Falter, Now Caffeine & Sodium Rule
Pink Princess Fairytale Flakes; Candy Bars For Breakfast
Counter-marketing Junk Food With Rats & Tacos
Eat Like An Ape: The Media Circus at Work
Parents? Stay Ahead of The Game, Literally; Kellogg’s Advergaming
American Idol Ad: KFC ‘Sneaky Snacker’ is Brandwashing
Advergaming Arcades Shift Toward Virtual Villages & Kid Vid
Shaping Youth Slams Capri Sun With Counter-Marketing
Obesity Risk Twice as High in Hispanic Children
School Sit-Ups Sponsored By Soda & Snacks
The Preteen Lunch Bunch, Selling Healthy Choices
Do you know when it’ll be available on dvd worldwide?
.-= lelik´s last blog ..Pregnancy Weeks 13-16, Month #4 (Pregnancy Health Guru) =-.
Found your blog while browsing Google. Bookmarked. Looking forward to more nutrition tips.