Food, Inc. Discussion Guide - TakePart

c h a p t e r 6Hidden CostsS y n o p s i s o f F i l m C h a p t e rThis chapter takes a look at the economics of our food systemand some of the market forces that influence food companies.The owner of the organic farm from the previous chapter talksabout industrial food not being “honest food” because it doesn’tinclude the environmental, societal, and health costs associatedwith it. The CEO of a once-small organic yogurt producer thathas been bought out by Groupe Danone (Dannon Yogurts) walksthe filmmakers through the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim.He points out other small companies that have been acquiredby corporations, and explains how Walmart is now selling hiscompany’s organic yogurts.R U N N I N G T I M E : 8 : 0 0 m i n u t e sB a c k g r o u n d I n f o r m at i o nOur modern food system is largely based on the idea that people should haveaccess to plenty of inexpensive food, and it is designed to produce, process, anddistribute enormous quantities of food as cheaply as possible. One reason forthis focus on abundance is our human history of periodic famines. As recently asWorld War II, global food shortages cost millions of civilian lives, and Americanfarmers were pushed to produce as much food as possible as part of the wareffort. Since then, farmers have continued to maintain high levels of production,using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other technologies to maximize yield.6 3F o o d , I n c . D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E© P a r t i c i p a n t M e d i a