Co-directed by James Colquhoun and Laurentine Ten Bosch, this film documents the corruption of the very nature of food pricing, with the federal government's mindless subsidy of big agribusiness, and especially corn production, and how this perverts international markets, such as making corn cheaper to Mexican farmers than that they can grow; the irony being that Mexico is the birthplace and cradle of corn to the world. A bevy of the same talking heads from the other films make some of the same points as they do elsewhere, but this film stitches together a solid narrative and trail of evidence for even the most apathetic viewer to easily follow. There are some claims made, by some of the wackier denizens of this documentary, and the others, such as simply eating this or that being a cure for cancer, or curing clinical depression simply by subscribing a high niacin diet, but none of this has ever been tested in controlled studies.
That stated, the film is correct in calling out the FDA, the Department of Agriculture, and the EPA for their failures to regulate the production and marketing of the assorted advertising gimmicks used to foist bad foods upon the public, as well as labeling the whole system the 'sickness industry,' rather than the wellness or food industry, as well as showing how perverse it is for the drug companies (which often own the agriculture companies) to control the medical journals and university grants that research and detail the harm caused by their own policies.
Technically, Food Matters is a cut or two above Fed Up! on the cinematic scale, and also penetrates a bit more deeply into the issues that first film raises. The lone negative of the film is one that plagues some of the other films in this review, and that is the use of some rather cheesy animation.
That stated, the film is correct in calling out the FDA, the Department of Agriculture, and the EPA for their failures to regulate the production and marketing of the assorted advertising gimmicks used to foist bad foods upon the public, as well as labeling the whole system the 'sickness industry,' rather than the wellness or food industry, as well as showing how perverse it is for the drug companies (which often own the agriculture companies) to control the medical journals and university grants that research and detail the harm caused by their own policies.
Technically, Food Matters is a cut or two above Fed Up! on the cinematic scale, and also penetrates a bit more deeply into the issues that first film raises. The lone negative of the film is one that plagues some of the other films in this review, and that is the use of some rather cheesy animation.