So this is a cheerful film. I left the room feeling like the last thing I wanted to do was eat meat, or anything for that matter. It didn’t last long though; I came home and had chicken breast (from the frozen meat section at Kroger’s) and instant mashed potatoes (filled with all sorts of lovely artificial ingredients engineered from corn). And it was good, too. I’m wondering how many other people in class did something similar. My guess would be at least half, but probably more. This begs the question, does this film achieve its desired effect on the audience if they go straight home and eat the same way as they did before? Maybe not, but I would say it does. Like we said in class, the film is not necessarily trying to get people to stop shopping at grocery stores or asking the entire audience to go vegetarian. But rather its foremost objective is to make people stop and think for a minute. Although I did not for a second consider not eating my chicken dinner, I did think for a moment about where this bird came from and the fact that its legs were probably too underdeveloped for it to walk from one end of its coop to the other (not that it could with the number of birds in it anyways). That, to me, is a testament to the success of the documentary particularly because we haven’t even seen the whole thing. I am actually really excited to see Polyface Farms and exactly what this Joel Salatin guy looks like. It’s very interesting to me how closely the film mirrors Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I wonder if that was the intention of the documentary or if they mean to put a different spin on the subject.
I agree with you on feeling really grossed out after watching the first half of the film. But I also went home, opened the freezer and began to defrost a piece of chicken compliments of the frozen food section in Kroger. However, I am wondering if local or organic chicken/food in general were more widely available to you, would you choose that over the genetically modified and ammonia purified meat? You seem to be a skeptic of the film and the food issue, and who wouldn't be with the amount of options these corporations and farms are throwing our way. Personally, I tend to side with Schlosser who is aware of how his fav meal of burger and fries is made but still chooses to eat it anyway!
ReplyDeleteI'm completely on board with you. I really question what these types of films get across. Before the first showing of the movie, I had a breaded chicken sandwich. Mind you though, it was something along the lines of Applegate Farms--I bought it from the organic frozen section of Kroger's (4 for $8). I think the message gets across to some people and for what it's worth, I feel there's a chance for change. I feel better what I'm consuming and because the box provides the information I'm interested in and the information I feel I should know, I feel like I'm more willing to buy and make that effort.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see someone who is careful to question what exactly the film (and others like it) hopes to achieve and what it actually achieves. I wrote about seeing TBHQ in the ingredients on my cheez-its box last week but did that stop me from finishing the box? No. But I think you're right that if the film at least makes a consumer stop and think or be more aware of the food he/she eats, then it has at least accomplished part of its goal.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the film's goal is to get you to think and to look, plus to have you understand how hard looking/thinking is. Change is slow. Few films would effect dietary changes overnight or for long anyway. For me, changing has been a very slow process, a slow moving away from eating "edible food substances" and CAFO meats to eating real food, more locally sourced, and very little CAFO meat. At some point, it stops being a hassle and becomes an adventure with its own pleasures. At least it has for me.
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