Friday Films: "Food, Inc."

We went Tuesday night to see the new documentary, Food, Inc., and before I went in, I was worried that the movie would reach the wrong audience. Well, not the "wrong" audience, because a documentary reaching any audience is great, and we all should think about what we're eating, but what I meant was that I was concerned that the people who see this movie are the ones who are already buying organic, buying local, reading the labels.

I think seeing the movie quelled that for me, because I saw a variety of people there who I would not expect to see this kind of film. It's a small town, so you tend to know who goes to the independent cinema, at least by sight. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. For as much as documentaries don't sell, people love the Discovery Channel and Food Network. This movie is like a combination of the two, with higher production values and more sickening food manufacturing montages.

If there is a hero in this film, it is the local family farmer--much like in "The Omnivore's Dilemma"--a figure in rapid decline. There was a palpable sense of relief in the audience when the focus of the movie shifted, for a few minutes, to Virginia's Polyface Farm, where an interesting (if slightly paranoid) farmer and his family (I assume they were family) prepared chickens. They showed the farmhand cut the chickens' throat, but after seeing factories filled with dead, sick birds, it was weirdly calming to see someone who obviously respects the process of preparing the bird. This wasn't wholesale slaughter--it was the way things used to be. The farmer then walked down to his grazing pigs and talked to them, and it was an oddly sweet moment: we knew that someday, these pigs would be meat, but at the same time, their conditions were so idyllic that it didn't seem terrible.

I really recommend this movie, even if you've read the books and you're already buying organic and local. It's eye-opening, and the end was surprisingly hopeful. There are a lot of activist documentaries that just don't work as a call to action, but this film is not one of them. The end of the movie is basically about how consumer response does matter: even Wal-Mart is increasing the presence of organic foods in its stores. Go to the website, see the movie, and eat real food. That is all. This movie reminded me that I want to raise my own chickens, too.

Unrelated but fun: the new season of "Mad Men" premieres on AMC on Sunday, August 16th. AMC launched a great website where you can make yourself into a 60s-style cartoon of an advertising executive (or secretary, wife, or female copywriter). I saw these cartoons inspired by the show awhile ago, back when the artist was selling them on her own, and I'm simultaneously disappointed that I didn't buy a print back then, and happy that she got hired by AMC.

UPDATE: I got a call earlier today from Matt Oas, asking about the tornado here in the Poconos. Since this is Friday Films, here is a video of the tornado, from the Pocono Record:



Everyone I know is fine. The afternoon this thing hit, Charlie could tell a storm was coming. We were walking, and he bit his leash and dragged me inside. Smart Dog.