Food Inc is an unsettling and uncomfortable expose of the corporately controlled US food industry which no doubts has many parallels in Australia. As such it sits as an excellent companion piece to End Of The Line, the recent documentary about global fishing stocks.

Like EOTL, Food Inc wastes no time and nuance in quickly establishing who the villains are. Writer and director, Robert Kenner, names and shames in ways the US legal and political system no longer much allows it seems. Images of suffering animals due to pens, genetic modification or their food intake abound and the disconnect between consumer perceptions about their food and reality is hammered home.

However, again like EOTL, hope for the future is sustained, this time through the growing organics industry, (though no doubt the definition of this will be attacked and made meaningless over time such as the concept of ‘free range eggs’ is under at present in this country.)

These types of documentaries are at times glib, very biased in their view but they do get your blood boiling and make for compelling entertainment. Food Inc is one such in that mould but any kernel of truth that helps propel change is a good thing and the case for the power of the individual to make a difference keeps it interesting.

Kryztoff Rating    4K