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all of the generous plants who give us oxygen,
photosynthesis which makes that possible, and the
99.5% reliability of the TV turning on everyday if
our cable bills have been paid, there is nothing
we over-nourished Americans take advantage of more
than food. Most of us eat with our eyes; we choose
meals and food products that have the shiniest
advertisements, the end caps at our nearest super
market, or like my mother, we simply buy whatever
is on sale.
"The Future of
Food" is an informative, well-paced and
sometimes appalling documentary that lets even the
health conscious consumer know that reading the
sodium and saturated fat contents of a product is
not enough anymore. Written and directed by
Deborah Koons Garcia, the documentary deals with a
new and disturbing trend in the food industry that
is much more pervasive than the quote un-quote
irresponsibility of fast food chains targeted in
the popular "Super
Size me". That trend is genetic
modification.
The perspective of "The
Future of Food" is wide in scope, but
fundamentally breaks down the epic struggle
between the forgotten farmers on the continent of
America
and the global attitudes of agricultural
corporations. We are given intimate portraits of
farming families in the
U.S.
and
Canada
through a series of interviews spliced in between
commentary by scientific experts, lawyers,
geneticists and narrative about a brazen company
called Monsanto.
In the last few decades,
technology has evolved -- or humans have evolved
and advances in technology are the by-product --
in such a way that we can both cook the meat of a
pig on our tank-like outdoor grills or find its
genetic recipe and create one in a lab. This new
world of genetic magic has allowed huge companies
like Monsanto to actually invent and patent their
own unique brand of seeds. Corn, wheat, and peas,
you name it, Monsanto and their team of scientists
have developed a super complicated (just try to
follow it) way of splicing and dicing the DNA of
these plants according to the caprices of their
avarice. These Monsanto brand seeds do not
naturally occur in nature, but the plants that
grow from them are superficially identical to
their un-altered brethren.
So what is the significance
of all of this? Dishearteningly, the answer comes
in the form of lawsuits and the rendering of the
already waning small farming culture in
America
obsolete. The diabolical geniuses running
Monsanto, a company that ironically manufactures
pesticides as well, have filed multiple lawsuits
against independent farmers when crops with their
DNA imprint have been found on farms that attest
to cultivating their own seed supply. Koons Garcia
and the farmers interviewed suspect a set-up and
multi-tiered corruption. They feel the drive of
companies like Monsanto is to create strongholds on
the industry by ushering out traditional farming
methods and the farmers that use them.
The complex drama between
Monsanto and its apparent victims could make even those
totally ignorant on the subject think carefully
and take sides. As for the science and history
behind this movement to globalize agriculture and
sacrifice tradition for efficiency, follow closely
and rewind if you have to because it is a stunning
mind screw.
The only flaw in "The
Future of Food", and those made by seemingly
partisan minded filmmakers like it, is that at
times it makes me feel like these extremely
interesting subjects are only brought to light in
order to bash the right wing and our present
administration. Implications run rampant in docs
of this ilk, and while I'm not going to stop
watching them any time soon, I wish their makers
would stray from the dogmatized, now everyman
social awareness message of "F*** Bush".
We've all heard him speak, we know what the man is
all about and can make up our minds for ourselves.
As a viewer, I would rather hear more about the
genetically modified rice I just ate and not have
to be spoon-fed political ideology.
At dinner tonight, you will
most likely eat some food product that has an
ingredient which is "modified". Just
check the label. The world has not been consuming
modified products long enough to know if negative
side effects exist, and that limbo of knowledge
will leave you running for your nearest organic
foods store. Documentary lovers, or anyone brave
enough to shun the old adage "what you don't
know won't hurt you" take notice. Koons
Garcia gives us a well done, intellectual piece of
work that educates all of the providers out there,
be it mothers, fathers, or the average market
shopper, that cooking your own meals at home may
no longer be the hands down healthy alternative to
eating out or ordering in.
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