Media Meditation 6: The Sickening Reality Of Our Food

Recently for one of my classes at Champlain College we watched Robert Kenner’s film, Food Inc. People who have watched it before said that it will make you look at your dinner in a totally different way, and they were not kidding. I was aware of many of the problems with commercial food, but I did not know how badly they were and that the American government was involved until after the film. This made me question why haven’t the American media shown these issues when they are so important to every person in the country. The answer become evident to me soon after. If the media were to show the issues in the film then they would be making the government and large corporations look bad. Here the principle of ownership is reflected as the media, like in this case, are very driven by government and corporate interests. In cases like this it is proven that secondary medias sources are always a good thing to follow and often times present information that is more important for Americans to know that the mainstream media.




The film shows viewers the reality of America’s food industry, demonstrating how it has been consolidated into just a handful of large corporations whose objective is to make a profit, with the aid of the American government’s policies. This brings about many dangers as these companies are not concerned about the health of Americans, the farming industry, the well being of animals, or the environment. Kenner reveals the results of the commercial farm’s profit driven goals such as the need to use pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, and other chemicals just to keep the plants and animals alive. He shows how the crops are so mass produced that the farmers need to use machines and pesticides to grow them, instead of properly caring for them. He also demonstrates how the live stock are confined to the point that they are on top of one another sitting in their own waste, and need to be fed antibiotics everyday so they won’t get sick from one another. The film demonstrates the farm’s use of chemicals as they are put on the produce so that they stay ripe long enough to be shipped to far away commercial grocery stores. Kenner then demonstrates how applying these practices comes at the expense their consumers, animals, and the environment. The pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals, antibiotics, and keeping animals in barely-breathable confinement is extremely harmful to American’s health causing e coli outbreaks that lead to illness and in some cases death, like with 2 1/2 -year-old Kevin Kowalcyk, who died so tragically in 2001 after eating a hamburger contaminated with E. coli. Another issue resulting from commercial farming that the film demonstrates is the large use of fossil fuels to run the machines on the large farms and to transport the products across the country, which are very harmful to the environment. It also discusses the American government’s involvement with these harmful factory farms as the implement policies to support them and to hinder any farm that questions what they are doing, creating a monopoly over the whole farming industry. The film does have a positive side as it shows viewers what they can do to help stop these problems, such as demanding better food, eating locally, starting farmers markets, and eating organic food. It is up to Americans to start demanding better food and that the media start showing these problems that are so significant to each and every American.


Tribune Brain: This film engages the Neocortex a great deal through the different information and analysis’s it presents about American’s food industry. As it talks about the different problems from Commercial farming such the viewers must use their Neocortex to process this information and think about how it affects them, others, the farming Industry, animals, and the environment. The Neocortex is also engaged when viewers must think about what they are going to do to stop the problems presented in the film. Kenner also uses material that applies a great deal to the limbic brain as well. He does this when he shows images of the mis-treatement of the animals, which draws out emotions of sadness and compassion for the livestock. The limbic brain is also engaged when the film tells the stories about the little boy dying from e coli, the families who cannot afford any other food besides the kind from the commercial farms, and the smaller farmers who had everything taken away from them by going against the government and commercial farms. Doing this brings out emotions of sadness, fear, shock, and uncertainty from viewers.




Eight Shifts…

Epistemological- the film demonstrates an epistemological shift from writing to image as almost all of the information is shown to viewers in images. The film contains almost no words.

Economic- One of the main themes of the film demonstrates the economic shift of consolidation. It discusses the consolidation of the smaller farms in to a handful of large commercial farms.


7 Principles…

Value Message-This film contains value message as it conveys to viewers the message of valuing better food, the environment, animals, and buying local food.

Ownership- the principle of ownership where the media is in terms of business and commercial interests is also conveyed in this film as it is evident that most of the information it shows that is clearly significant to the American people is not shown in the media because it would make the government and corporations look bad.

Emotional Transfer- emotional transfer is also highlighted in this film as it creates symbols that represent different emotions and ideas. This is done with the commercial farms, as they become symbols that represent people who do not care about the health of their consumers, the environment, or the animals.


Persuasion Techniques…

Testimonial- There is a great deal of testimonial in this film. All through out the movie it shows people who support its claims: the family of the child who was killed by the e coli supports the claim that the meat from the commercial farms is dangerous to Americans health, the farmer who had everything taken away from him because he went against the government and commercial farmers supports the claim that the government controls the farms and has a monopoly over the industry.

Warm and Fuzzies- The film uses the persuasion technique of warm and fuzzies with the appeal of cute little children and animals by including the sad death of the 2.5 year old boy and the mis-treatment of the livestock in his film, which touches viewers hearts and makes them more upset about the issues in the film.

Plain Folks- Plain folks is a persuasion technique that is also included as the film is directed to the everyday American that should be informed about this information.