Where does our food come from? How is it produced? What is our responsibility as a consumer to make sure the government is looking at for our best interests and health and not that of a handful of multinational corporations? Those are the central questions running through filmmaker Robert Kenner’s (Two Days in October) latest documentary Food, Inc., the answers he comes up with not exactly ones of the warm and fuzzy variety.

CRITIQUE

I’ve got to be honest, even though I went in kind of suspecting what the director’s central argument was going to be (interview subjects include Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser – who is also one of the producers – and The Omnivore's Dilemma writer Michael Pollan), I still wasn’t prepared for the sheer amount of disheartening and downright depressing footage he was able to unearth. Shots of food processing plants, meat farms and poultry sheds came close to making me gag, just thinking about the lot of them now almost enough to make me swear off shopping at my local grocery story altogether.

But what ends up making the movie resonate and work are the interviews Kenner conducts with people like Stonybrook Farms’ entrepreneur Gary Hirschberg, professional seed cleaner Moe Parr and food safety advocate Barbara Kowalcyk. Their unique stories grant insight, sometimes tragic, into the rights and the wrongs currently going on in the food industry. Their stories make us think and force us to ponder a world outside of our own limited interpersonal bubble, and like a great piece of investigative journalism it makes viewers realize that real change can only start when it is made at our own familial dinner table.

Is it one-sided? Sure, a little bit, but I appreciate the fact that the director and his produces did actually go the companies in question (like Monsanto, Tyson, Perdue and Smithfield) only to have their requests for interviews be refused. One cannot help but wonder what makes them so afraid and fearful, and even if they didn’t want to speak to the people behind this film the fact that you never see them speak at all should probably tell us all we really need to know.

THE VIDEO

Magnolia presents Food Inc. in 1.78:1/1080p on a 25GB disc. Detail and sharpness are solid. The image looks crisp and colors are vibrant in many shots. Some softness creeps into some images, while contrast looks fine. Grain is visible at times.

Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.

THE AUDIO

Food Inc. is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. This is a pretty good mix overall with good balance and range.

THE EXTRAS

The big portion (no pun intended) of the bonus material is a collection of 38 Deleted Scenes, which equals 38 minutes of additional scenes that are interesting to watch.

There is also 7 minutes worth of Celebrity Public Service Announcements, plus the information-filled "You Are What You Eat": Food With Integrity” ABC Nightly News segment (7 minutes).

Rounding out the extras are several trailers, two animated shorts ("The Amazing Food Detective" and "Snacktown Smackdown"), a list of helpful websites or Resources, and a Food Inc: The Book promo.

FINAL THOUGHTS