I had the opportunity this weekend to see the new film Food, Inc.
While I have to say the "cast" involves many of my favorite "major players" in the local, non-industrialized food movement, I can't say the movie was much more than, well, preaching to the choir.
The movie brings up this issue, that the viewers of the film are people who are worried about our food supply. The viewers are NOT like the limited-income family shown in the film, who buy from the McDonald's Dollar Menu since you can get a burger for the price of a pear or two. I'm afraid of my food. That's why I try to frequent the Phoenix Farmer's Market, actually telling my restaurant employer I don't want to work Saturdays so I can visit the market. (Not surprisingly, they continue to buy, oh, 99% of their offerings from distant, commercial, and thus industrialized sources. This is not uncommon, even among restaurants of the highest quality and price point.
I don't want to watch a movie with questions. I want one with answers. About as close as it got was the final, word based call-to-action about "what you can do to support this movement." The rest was more shots of sad animals in slaughter houses, contrasted with Joel Salatin's happy little pigs in rural Virginia. I grew up near rural Virginia. I saw "free-range cows" that my uncle raised. Also not surprisingly, he farmed tobacco, too, but now these fancy cows are worth more than the former cash crop.
I was very interested in this movie, though, as a possible teaching tool. I've really considered trying to put together a freshman composition course about food. Not as in, "I want to teach you about food writing," but as in "I want to teach your about food, and I want you to write about what you learn." I think that this film could be an interesting entree into some of the "key players" I discuss. I also think it can give the graphic imagery that, were I to show on slides, would look like proselytizing. Something about the fact that it's a mass media movie makes it so much more believable. Geez. (Yeah. That's what I'm up against in comp class!)
Assignment Idea #1
Pick a processed food you love. It can be from the grocery store or fast food chain. Just make sure you didn't make it, and that it came to you ready to eat (i.e., no heating necessary). Find the list of ingredients on the packaging or at the chain's website. Make a numbered list of these ingredients, in order of appearance. For each ingredient give a brief 100 word description of what the ingredient is, what it does, where it comes from, and additional information that shocks or delights you. After creating this "annotated ingredients list," write a short introduction (1st paragraph) that describes the product as you FIRST saw it as just a consumer (literally, an eater) and a short conclusion (last paragraph) that describes the produce as you NOW see it, based on what it's ACTUALLY made of as an "informed consumer" (what the label is SUPPOSED to communicate to you, but probably didn't, since you had to look up most of the ingredients). You will need to do outside research for this assignment for any terminology/ingredient that is unfamiliar to you.
Try this with your favorite guilty pleasure and get back to me. Anyone who posts a response, I'll trade you a handmade baked good of your choosing, made with ingredients you can recognize, many of which will be locally produced.
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