FOOD, INC.
Director:
Robert Kenner
Run Time
94 minutes
Website
http://www.takepart.com/foodinc
Awards
Synopsis:
Food, Inc. lifts the veil on America’s food industry, exposing the highly
mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer
with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. The
nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often
put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer,
the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted
chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even
tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the
harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans
annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children,
and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. Featuring interviews with such
experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s
Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking
social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel
Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what
we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are
going from here.
The Academy Awards:
Best Documentary, Nominated
Emmy Award:
Best Documentary &
Outstanding Informational
Programming – Long Form
American Cinema Editors:
Best Edited Documentary,
Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association
Awards:
Critics Choice Award & Best
Documentary, Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association:
Best Documentary, Nominated
Directors Guild of America:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement
in Documentary, Nominated
Gotham Awards:
Best Documentary
Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Documentary, Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Awards:
Best Documentary, Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics
Association Awards:
Best Documentary
Washington DC Area Film Critics
Association Awards:
Best Documentary
Director Robert Kenner has won an array of awards and garnered rave reviews for his
documentary work exposing some of today’s least talked of, but most impactful, social and
environmental issues. His documentary, Food, Inc. was nominated for an Academy Award and
won two Emmys. Prior to his work on Food, Inc., Kenner received a Peabody, Emmy, and
Grierson Award for his film, Two Days in October, an insightful examination of two key events
during the Vietnam Conflict and how they shaped Americans’ views of the war. Kenner was cofilmmaker with Richard Pearce on The Road to Memphis for Martin Scorsese’s series, The Blues.
Newsweek called The Road to Memphis “as fine a film ever made about American music” and
“the unadulterated gem of the Scorsese Series.” Kenner has directed a number of specials for
the PBS series American Experience and for National Geographic, including the award-winning
and inspirational Don’t Say Goodbye. Kenner also directed an award-winning public history of
Hewlett Packard and numerous commercials.
Questions for Discussion - Food, Inc.
• Do you believe that the issues addressed in Food, Inc. are relevant in your country? Which issues
are and which issues are not?
• As consumers, do we have the right to know where our food comes from, how animals are treated
and how agriculture is grown?
• Whose responsibility do you think it is to inform us about what is in our food? Is it our
responsibility to find out, the producer’s responsibility to make it more clear, the stores,
government or all of them? Why do you think so?
• What kinds of actions have you taken to make a change (what kind of changes?) at home, at
school, or in the community? What was effective? What wasn’t?
• Should a company have the power to decide what information to give consumers about the food it
produces?
• What are other things we can do—either individually or collectively—to encourage our families,
our friends, or others around us to make changes in their lives toward food that is more healthful
and environmentally sustainable?
• What individual or collective actions are you willing to take to improve our food system, and what
would be their impact? Can you take these actions without getting into trouble with your friends,
community, local or national government?
• Who do you think should have the power to decide food policies, laws about food safety, and other
food-related matters? Are any of these individuals, groups, or organizations doing it now and if
yes, how is it working?