Food, Inc. in the Western Suburbs


Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines large-scale agricultural food production in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by this type of economic enterprise leads to inexpensive but environmentally harmful and unhealthy food.

From the Food Inc website:

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Food, Inc. will be playing at:

Landmark Century Cinemas
2828 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 509-4949
Thursday, July 30th (2:00), (4:30), 7:15, 9:45

Glen Art Theatre
540 Crescent Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Showtimes will be available at starting July 31st. Food, Inc. is scheduled to be running from Friday, July 31st – August 6th.

Genetically modified food – more, soon


Earlier this month the FDA sent out a press release inviting people to comment on their new regulations for genetically engineered animals.  Basically, genetically modified animals are coming to American tables whether we like it or not, and the FDA has decided that its approach to regulation will be to treat recombinant DNA constructs just as they would new drugs under review for approval.

Genetically modified organisms are already all around us: in crops that grow faster, bigger, in more extreme temperatures, or in ways that resist pests and disease; in pharmaceuticals; in animal testing; and in the production of cheese, bread, beers, and wines.  But what the future holds, at least in the eyes of proponents of genetically modified animals, are animals that grow faster, emit less phosphate or methane in their manure, are resistant to diseases like mastitis or mad cow, or have omega-3 fatty acids at levels similar to fish. The first animal to go through the regulatory process will probably be an Atlantic salmon developed in a Massachusetts lab. According to the New York Times, the fish fattens up to market weight in 18 months instead of 30.

Read the full article here