Documentary Aims to Expose Purported Dangers of Food Industry
A new documentary titled Food, Inc. apparently paints a vivid picture of the foods Americans eat–from bigger-breasted chickens fattened artificially to new strains of deadly E. coli bacteria, to a food supply controlled by a handful of corporations. The filmmakers claim these purported dangers create harmful effects on public health, the environment, and worker and animal rights. Robert Kenner, the movie’s director, reportedly called it a “horror film,” and told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on June 9, 2009, “If you visit feed lots, as I have, you lose your appetite for certain kinds of food. Some people are in denial. But, increasingly, people are curious to know the story about their food.”
Food industry trade associations, however, have countered the movie’s claims by creating a number of websites, including one led by the American Meat Institute called SafeFoodInc.com., and a campaign that promotes the U.S. food industry as safe, abundant and affordable. “Each sector of the industry that’s named is doing its part to counter a lot of the misinformation in the movie,” said Lisa Katic, a dietitian
and consultant with an unnamed coalition of trade associations representing the food industry, in published reports. See Reuters and ABC News.com, June 9, 2009.
