The Future of Food

I'm just curious as to why some of the negative reviewers sound like they may be working secretly for Archer Daniels Midland or Monsanto. Their bleating objections strike me as being pseudo defensive and very similar to those expressed by the tobacco industry when they're charged with deception and killing people with their product or when "An Inconvenient Truth" broke open the Global Warming debate and conservatives denied its veracity. Someone should check on those guys and how they earn a living. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed "The Future of Food" and felt it did us a great service by expressing another viewpoint OTHER than what we get from the big corporations and our government. I wish it were our government.

It's an important film and well worth seeing and further discussion.

A very watchable documentary suitable for all ages. We took our 3 kids (as young as 6) and they all got something out of it, even tho the content was serious.

Shows effectively how we are losing diversity in the seed / gene pool; that agricultural ownership is being concentrated in fewer hands; and that large conglomerates (such as Monsanto) are aggressively pushing genetically modified seed and chemical herbicide, as well as driving the family farmer out of business.

Like you'd expect in something like this there's a sort of relentless one-sidedness, and some of the scientific explanations seem a bit superficial. But well worth the time & price of admission.

it's time people understand about the destruction of our planet.... this film is an informative way to jump-start that awakening.

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I really wanted to like this film. It deals with a topic of great importance and generally propagates ideas that I agree with - like the dangers of corporate behavior, the threat to biodiversity that GM products pose and the absurdity of patenting life.

So what's the problem? Let me sum it up:

• most of the movie is comprised from old footage cuts accompanied by a rather dull commentary. Not very captivating.

• the commentary is badly written. It's repetitive and often fails to make a point. For instance, it cites three methods for genetic modification of a cell. Dramatic music, the 'expert' says that the procedure is very invasive to the cell and that it mimics the behavior of a virus and... nothing more. I wanted to know what problems can arise from the treatment but there was no explanation. Is it really surprising that overwriting the DNA is 'invasive' to a cell? Yet, this treacherous 'invasivness' is mentioned several times through the film (with no additional information).

• important information is left out. For example, the movie mentions the Supreme Court's decision on the Monsanto vs. Schmeisser trial but fails to mention the Court's reasoning that sheds a different light on the severity of the ruling. On top of it the court denied any compensation to Monsanto. This clearly didn't fit the film's agenda.

• the choice of the talking heads is poor. When compared to the respectable lineup that producers of other documentaries were able to accumulate (e.g. The Corporation, The Power of Nightmares) I can only assume the creators of The Future of Food just didn't make their homework. Where are (ex)employees of the bioengineering companies, politicians that took part in creating the regulations for GM and where are the representatives of the regulatory government bodies?

This is arguably one of the best examples of a film that has the ability to simplify a very complicated subject tat I have seen since The Corporation. Debora Koons Garcia has strung together the most cohesive and informative series of interviews, historic footage, biographies and science animations that culminate in a clear comprehensive message about our food and what is being done with it. It should be built-in to every television sold today... its that good!

The film describes in detail the history of agriculture and then focuses on the problems associated with industrial agriculture and the introduction of Agri-Business in the 20th Century. It reveals the unethical business practices that have resulted from Argri-Corporations need to make profit regardless of their effects on humanity. Agribusiness; like it or hate it, you will learn information you didn't know from this film.