Food Inc.: Film Analysis

Truth is often a complex ideal to grasp at in debate or discussion. There is a reason the current administration tout’s concepts like alternative facts , and philosophers have debated whether truth itself is subjective for over a century . Yet, truth many believe truth about food should be clear cut and obvious, are farmers and the farming industry the heartland of the country? Or is our food handcrafted by shady corporations who care more about the essential point of their company than the health of consumers? Two documentaries take a stance in the debate about food, Farmland represents the humble farmer working daily to be a caretaker for the ecology of the farmland. The other film is Food Inc. which marches through various industries to reveal the corporate side of food production and examine practices that consumers may object to. Yet, as is often the case the truth is probably found somewhere between these two perspectives. Neither film veils its bias. Both utilize classic theatrical techniques to make their point, whether it be Food Inc.’s usage of dark melody’s when examining chicken coops to illicit doubt and fear in the audience, or it be the rising kind melody played
when hearing the personal stories of farmers in Farmland. Similarly, the narrative of each film is directed at different ends, Food Inc. demands you be suspicious of all food, suspicious of motives of food producers, and Farmland essentially serves as an hour-long advertisement for becoming a farmer, or at the very least identifying with the trials and successes of the farmer. Yet, throughout both films you can find that one narrative is similar, the farmers, the human elements of the process of food production, generally seek to do their best to feed consumers. The human element of the food industry is perhaps its most redeeming quality, the constant distrust and frustration, comes from a lack of understanding about food. Americans have become so separated from the process of making food they are coming to realize they daily ingest food they do not understand. Perhaps neither film is a fair representation of the “truth” of food production.
Yet, both pose important questions, not the least of which is a question about the nature of farming. Both films present a view of farming in which we see the farmer is subject to a nearly impossible business, conglomeration and mass production is seemingly the only way to make a living in farming , unless you can work out a niche market. Food Inc. ponders the idea that subsidies are directed more towards protecting large farming companies rather than a diverse farming system with independent farmers. Perhaps the only truth shared between each film is that food production is an increasingly difficult business to remain independent in, and that the average American hardly understands the origin of their
food.