W6 A film that has all the right aims...

Food, Inc was a very influential film, some of its most compelling arguments in my opinion were; the inside views of the treatment of the animals, the story about Kevin and the information attached to it, the treatment of the workers, and finally the farmers being pursued for patent infringement. Using these captivating images and facts Food, Inc strongly-pursues the underbelly of America's food production.

From the first  assembly line we see living breathing baby chicks murdered in a heartless and mechanical fashion. This image was string enough to send some viewers including mine's gag reflex into a tizzy. What's worse is the images of the cows too fat for their own capacity to carry falling over and being pushed with a fork lift. Due to the corn and animal scraps these animals are fed they are unable to carry their own body weight. The chicken's are kept in dark windowless crowded shacks trampling each other. Most can't even take more than two steps before collapsing under their unnaturally high body mass. With the use of hidden cameras we see how these poor defenseless sickly creatures are captured and sent to their horrible deaths. They are kicked, beaten, carelessly thrown around, and scared into heart attacks.

The image that Kevin's mother leaves in our minds brought me to tears. To in-vision a small boy a few years old on dialysis in the hospital begging for water is a devastating thought. She said that he was so thirsty that not only was he begging for water, but he was so desperate that he bit the head of a sponge off to try and get all the water out of it. (As he was only aloud to have a little water from a sponge every few hours) All of this happened because of diseased meat. The worst thing that Kevin's mother informed us is that the company not only never apologized for killing her baby, but they didn't recall their meat until 16 days after Kevin died.It seems that the company has obtained absolutely no penalties for their poor hygiene. Kevin's mother and family are still fighting for Kevin's law; which forces companies to be more informative about their products with labels. It doesn't seem like much to ask now does it?

A third argument that left a displeasing taste in my mouth was the use of employment. Hiring illegal immigrants who can't afford to ask for benefits, more money, and days off are used in this highly dangerous job environment. The sickest thing we see is one of the largest companies that America uses has a contract with the police. The police don't arrest all of their employees but every week they arrest 10-15 people. Drag them out of their homes, cuff them and take them to unknown places. These workers have very poor communication skills and do not understand their rights or how to be smart in these situations. These companies are taking advantage of people who have no options and of Americas ignorant citizens, who blindly let this happen for cheaper and quickly produced meat.

The last stand I would say that had impact on me was the farmers. Trying to make a living but being caught by government laws corporate pesticides (things which do not go with agriculture and farming.) A man is sued for simply cleaning seeds. The corporation considers him an enabler of patent infringement of soy bean pesticides. This man has lost his business of over 40 years, his friends, and his lively hood as he had to settle because he couldn't afford his bills. That is what these companies do, buy out or scare out the local workers with fancy suits and cheep product. Once these smaller local companies and farmers are gone they up prices and experiments with less precautions and attention to safety all the while being negligent about informing America what exactly they are consuming.  

Food, Inc was smart, they triggered all of our emotions in this documentary. Our compassion and sympathy and humans and mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers. While enabling our anger while injustice and disgusting behaviors. They even tug on our logical notions of life, with regards to what we choose to eat and why and how this is affecting us. And simply what we can do to change it. They show that we as a society have the power. I for one have learned new things from this documentary and will always try and make smarter decisions when shopping. I hope you all do too.