The Future of Food

THE FUTURE OF FOOD (TFOF) skillfully takes on the task of describing the constellation of large, hard issues relating to modern food production. What a task! In its analysis TFOF correctly and importantly ties together the relationships among the 3 factors of production - land, labor, and capital - in getting at an accurate description of the modern enclosure movement at work in our fast food world.

TFOF's coverage extends to the many spatial and historical dimensions of farming, to the legal, intellectual property of "pharming," to some of the technical aspects of the genetic modification, and shows where we are headed.... But that's up to you!

TFOF compares to THE CORPORATION in its potential impact. It could be even bigger. My local store was selling it at the checkout counter yesterday - 12/6/2005!

There is probably nothing that we can do to change things as we have given up the oversight of our elected leaders by not voting or by voting on single issues at the direction of our preachers, but we should at least have some knowledge of what is being done to us by politicians and chemical companies in bed together.

97% of the varieties of vegetables that were available at the turn of the 20th century are gone. The food we now have - corn, soybeans, etc. - had been genetically modified so that there is only one or two varieties. There is no testing or oversight due to the negligence of the FDA and the US Dept. of Agriculture and the fact that members of both these organizations, as well as other politicians, including at least one on the Supreme Court, have been or are members of the boards or in the employ of of the chemical companies. In fact Monstanto said it didn't matter who won the 2000 election, they were covered.

The chemical companies have bought all the seed companies and now you buy from them or you do not plant. They have, with the help of the government and the courts, usurped private property to their benefit.

As I say, there is nothing that can be done, save buying organic or at farmer's markets; but this film contains information you should know, especially since as a taxpayer you are contributing $20 billion dollars a year to the chemical companies.

If the rest of the world does not accept our frankenfood, why should we?

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.

This movie was truly shocking. I had no idea what was really truly happening with our food supply, I mean I had an idea, but I didn't think it was this bad. Makes you wanna run out into the streets and shout. I agree with the previous previewer, it is totally watchable for kids, and actually this should be shown in schools, libraries, where ever you can get a group together to see it. This info has got to get out there. WOW! What do we do? How do we do it? What do you eat? Where do you shop? Think about those things. See the movie and then make some changes! Maybe plant your own garden, or join a local CSA... do something!

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?