Food Inc Analysis Essay

Hannah Tate

Dennis

ENG 112. 4401

01 March 2016

Film Analysis

Food, Inc is a documentary directed by Robert Kenner and co-produced by Eric Schlosser that was released in 2009. The purpose of this film is to inform how the food industry has changed from farmers making products to companies controlling them on how to mass produce. This new way of farming that is unhealthy to Americans and it is also harmful for the animals that have to live in unsanitary conditions. Food, Inc is an effective film because it shows how the companies have taken over the control of farmers in the food industry by mass producing foods and how these foods could have negative effects on humans and animals. Food, Inc is an effective film because it encourages Americans

to be more conscious about what they eat and by eating locally made food.
The director, Robert Kenner was inspired to produce Food, Inc after reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. This film aims towards Americans that are not informed about what goes into their food and those that are interested in learning about how their food is made. Eric Schlosser states that, “the industry doesn’t want you to know what you are eating because if you did, you may not want to eat it” (Food, Inc). This is just one of the flaws in the food industry that Robert Kenner explains during the movie.
In this film, Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, explains that even though a “typical supermarket has 47,000 products, only 4-5 companies make these products” (Food, Inc).

This represents how much the food industry has changed over the years. The film shows two statistics that in “1970, companies controlled 25% of the market”, but “now they own 80% of the market” (Food, Inc). This goes on to show just how much companies are more involved in production of products than ever before. This movie points out to fast food chains have influenced how our food is produced. Robert Kenner believes that the industrial food industry began when McDonalds started cutting down their menu and began using assembly lines and low pay for their workers. After McDonalds became a success, it shaped how our food is being made by big

companies.
In Food Inc, Robert Kenner, explores the argument of the food industry through interviewing farmers, advocates, and employees of companies on their opinion on the food industry.

This documentary uses pathos to show animal cruelty in the food industry, such as cutting off beaks off chickens and beating cows. This movie presents the flaws in the food industry of not responding to cases of E. Coli and Salmonella outbreaks. In the ending scene, it presents information to viewers to make a change about how they eat. For example, eating organic foods, going to farmer’s markets, and providing ideas for food safety measures for farmers, employees, and for animals that are being mistreated in the food industry. Throughout the movie, Robert Kenner showed footages of animals being abused.

About 50 years ago, chicken would be in houses for 3 months, but now they are only there for about 47 days before they are slaughtered. In the “Unhealthy Meat Market”, Nicholas Kristof states that “chicken are bred to grow huge breasts so that as adults they topple forward and can barely breathe or stand” (2). This is true in the film because there it shows footages of chickens that are so big that they plop on the ground and die because they can not handle their weight. This article compares to the movie because it explains that these animals are given antibiotics and hormone so they can grow

faster.
As I was watching Food, Inc, I was shocked by what the animals have to live in and how they are slaughtered. I was shocked by how employees and farmers by these companies were throwing chickens into a transport truck. I was surprised by the conditions that these animals live in. For example, they do not see sunlight, they are cramped together and are being forced to eat and get so big that they can not move. Before watching this movie, I knew that these animals were cramped together into houses and slaughtered as they get to a certain weight. However, I did not know about farmers are being hired by these companies to produce their food and do not receive a lot of money for investing in these houses for animals. I was also surprised by how many cases of E. Coli and Salmonella are and how a company took two weeks to recall a product. After watching this film, I will be more consciously aware of what I eat by looking at labels and buying more locally made foods.
Today in the food industry, farmers are being taken advantage of because they are hired by companies and are being controlled by how they raise their food. About 50 years ago, food used to be made by farmers. Now it has shifted to companies making the food by mass producing, such as assembly lines, and are taking the ability for farmers to take profit for making their food. At the end of this film, they provided ways on how people can be more conscious of what they are eating.

Food, Inc is an effective film because it demonstrates how the companies that are mass producing are affecting the lives of consumers