Food Inc. – Summary

This is a highly recommended documentary for anyone who hasn’t come across it up until now.

As of July 2017 it’s available on Netflix, if not you can get hold of a copy for very little money.

If you haven’t read The Omnivore’s Dilemma then I would definitely read that first. It covers the same topics and helps you appreciate the film even more.

“Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on America’s food industry. He exposes the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer. This has happened with the consent of the government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. The nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations. These corporations often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. There’s bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds and even tomatoes that won’t go bad. The bad news is there’s also new strains of E. coli, the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. America is riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.”

My Notes

  • The modern US supermarket has on average 47,000 products.
  • McDonald’s brought the factory production line to the restaurant kitchen.
  • The four biggest beef producers control 80% of the market. Even if you don’t want fast food quality meat, you might still be buying it in the shops.
  • When it comes to chicken for supermarket use, most of them never see the light of day.
  • The chickens are fed so heavily that their legs can’t keep up with the growth so cannot walk.
Food Inc - image 1
  • Antibiotics put into the feed are often passed straight through to the consumer.
  • There’s an illusion of diversity in a supermarket. So much food is simply re-arrangements of corn by a handful of companies.
  • The Government subsidises corn so farmers can sell it below the cost of production. They still encourage farmers to produce as much as possible.
  • When you see these (below) on a food label, all can be derived from corn.
Food Inc - image 3
All these ingredients on food labels can be derived from corn
  • Your hamburger meat is a blend of hundreds of different cows, making it harder to avoid diseases like e.coli.
  • We are supposedly hard-wired to enjoy the taste of salt, sugar and fat. Funnily enough I later review a book by the exact same name here.
  • It’s expected that 1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes.
  • 1.5 million Mexican corn farmers were put out of business by cheap subsidised US corn, and then recruited by the meat industry.
About Fraser_9to5 254 Articles
Site owner. I'm a graduate in Sports Science and have an MSc in Sports Biomechanics. I set up 9to5strength in 2015 as a resource for people interested in strength training, nutrition and fitness. I consider myself a fitness blogger and enjoy creating YouTube videos and trying out workout programs.