The 2010 Oscars will broadcast on Sunday, March 7, and Food, Inc. is nominated for Best Documentary Feature.  Given the buzz and discussion it’s inspired it’s a winner already –  they’ve certainly got my vote – and of course it’s an honor just to be nominated.  Enjoy the review and I hope you seek out the movie.

Watching Food, Inc. will make anyone re-think their Oscar snacks.   This is a documentary with strong opinions, strong arguments, and lots of information.  It’s a film that everyone should see.  The messages are clear and driven home again and again.  The bad guys are bad, and the good guys are honest, touching, and sympathetic.  

But this documentary’s not about disliking the bad guys and siding with the good guys – it’s about  something much harder – it’s about making you think.   Are we eating in a way that makes us less healthy?  Do our regulations guarantee safety or put us at risk?  Who really pays for cheap food?  What’s the environmental cost?  In the end, the filmmaker – Robert Kenner – puts it in our hands and says we have the chance to vote 3 times a day.  He’s right.

I started to eat more organic foods a few years ago, embraced ‘eating local’ and relying more and more on farmer’s markets.  I did that for myself, and found I was eating food that tasted better and made me feel good.  I didn’t think beyond that; it was about me and supporting people around me.  I knew the bits and pieces of why organic and local is good on a broad scale, but this film connected the dots for me in a crystal clear way.  I now understand the broader picture, and it made me feel I should do more.  Much more.

One of the most interesting people in the film is Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms.  He’s open, passionate, and very articulate.  It’s hard to argue his points.  When he explains why feeding his cows the grass their bodies were designed to eat  – not corn – results in safer, tastier, and more energy efficient food, his case is airtight.  Eating organic and local becomes much more than ‘something for me’.  It’s something for all of us.  

Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm says that organic is the fastest growing food category in America – and retailers’ interest is growing as a result.  Gary began his quest for organic long before it was popular, like Jason Brown of Concept Development Group whom KissMyCountry interviewed earlier this year.  Both just wanted to eat food that tasted good and was good for you, both turned that personal desire into successful  companies, and both are glad to see organic and natural eating embraced by retailers and the mainstream.  Retailers want to retain customers, if customers are changing then retailers respond – or suffer the results.  This is what the director of Food, Inc. means when he says we have the chance to vote 3 times a day.  Retailers are tallying those votes, and changing what they offer in their stores.

Enough people have voted 3 times a day to create some changes, and those changes create more changes and help those who are being hurt the most  – those with small budgets and fewer choices.  The best question in Food, Inc. is ‘If a cheeseburger costs $1 then why doesn’t a pound of broccoli cost $1?’.  It’s a good question, and that’s why Food, Inc. is a must-see.  I hope you watch it, I hope you ask yourself some questions, and I hope you start to vote 3 times a day for yourself and for our planet.