Introduction
Directed by Robbert Kenner in 2008, the American documentary film ‘Food Inc.,’ attempts to examine the commercialization and mechanization of the American food production industry. The film was developed between 2007 and 2009 with the aim of exposing the negative aspects of commercialization and mechanization of the American food production industry (Weber, 2009).
Problems facing fast-food restaurants such as MacDonald’s
The film exposes a number of issues associated with the government’s role in increasing the rate of corn production. Corn production has become cheap and easy, thanks to mechanization and genetic engineering (Kenner, 2008). However, overproduction means that the government has to look for some ways of ensuing that the excess corn is utilized. MacDonald’s and other fast-food companies are forced to use corn because it is cheap and readily available. They devise ways of incorporating corn as the main ingredient in some of the products, including burgers and cheese (Weber, 2009).
Then, they offer these products at a cheap price. Nevertheless, this is a problem because in most cases, an E. coli bacterium is found replicating in corn due to unhealthy production processes. In addition, corn is highly modified genetically to allow it to grow and mature fast, but at the expense of human and animal health (Deardorff, 2009). Fast food companies are faced with an economic problem because they are the major target for modern health campaigns and enthusiasts who tend to tarnish the names of the fast-food producers. In addition, with an increasing trend towards organic foods, fast food companies are set to lose a large part of their clientele, resulting in economic problems.
Corporate behavior in food production
According to the film, the American food production industry is highly controlled by the bourgeois class, which mostly consists of large corporations that have achieved government backing. Laws have been made and enacted to protect the interest of these companies at the expense of human health. The film cites the roles and practices of companies like Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Monsanto Company, and Smithfield Foods in controlling food production (Deardorff, 2009).
One of the major roles that these companies play in controlling food production in the country is to regulate what farmers do. They make compulsory practices that their farmers must abide by in order to increase production and reduce costs. For example, a chicken farmer, who is one of the contractors under Tyson Foods, reveals that the company regulates animal production in their farms by using inhumane methods of animal handling (Weber, 2009). She says that chicken fed with foods that make them grow excessively big within a few days. The film shows some 30 day-old chicken moving for a short distance before collapsing from excessive weight. In addition, the farmer says that chicken are kept in tiny houses without windows or other ventilations. They remain there all day and night without seeing sunlight (Kenner, 2008).
The film also highlights the practices at meat production companies such as Smithfield Foods. For example, employees at Smithfield’s hog processing say that they are forced to work within small spaces. They are overworked as they do the hogs. For instance, they are forced to slaughter about 32,000 hogs per day within tiny spaces where health threats are real (Biancolli, 2009). Some say that infections are possible because much of their work involves handling intestines, stomach offal and other parts of the animal gut.
An important thing to note in this case is that companies like Smithfield reduce their cost of production because illegal immigrants, especially those from Mexico and other South American nations, desperately accept jobs at low wages (Kenner, 2008). Most of them are illegally in the US, which means that they remain in these jobs as long as they are receiving salaries and protection from the law. Since the illegal immigrants are ready to accept any jobs, the companies force them to overwork within small spaces where work ethics are not applicable (Biancolli, 2009).
However, these practices pose some economic threats to the companies. For instance, hiring unqualified immigrants and placing them in small spaces is likely to cause massive rate of infection at the plants (Biancolli, 2009). In case these infections happen, it will be impossible to conceal information from the public. The companies are likely to face bad reputation, causing massive losses in terms of sales and profits.
The role of FDA and SDA in food production: Inability to protect human health
The film reveals that some of the government agents set to protect the public from health threats are controlled by the very institutions they are supposed to regulate. An example is FDA, an agent established with an aim of regulating the type of foodstuffs offered to the public. For example, the director says that the FDA used to perform more than 50,000 tests on food quality in 1970s, but today, it only carries out less than 10,000 tests. This means laxity in the company or inability to control the food industry. In fact, the film reveals that the consolidation of food production is now controlled by a handful of multibillion corporations that carry out their own “food investigations” and defy the FDA rules (Deardorff, 2009).
Conclusion
The film highlights the impact of the processes and practices of the food production industry on animal and plant health and the subsequent impact of these factors on human health. The production of junk foods and contaminated plant and animals products seems to be real. In addition, commercialization and mechanization of the processes, together with cheap labor from Mexico, shows that the industries are interested in increasing their profitability levels at the expense of human and environmental health (Weber, 2009).
References
Biancolli, A. (2009). Review: ‘Food, Inc.’ Not for the Squeamish. San Francisco Chronicle, p. 23.
Deardorff, J. (2009). Food, Inc.: How Factory Farming Affects You. Chicago Tribune, p. 27.
Kenner, R. (Dir.). (2008). Food, Inc [DVD]. New York: Magnolia Pictures.
Weber, K. (2009). Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer—And What You Can Do About It. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.