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The movie Food Inc will be screened soon in New Zealand. It’s likely to excite a few, exasperate others, and cause many more to think about the future of our food, where it comes from and what the future holds, especially the growing number among us who have little or no idea about where our food comes from.
This movie will remind us how important it is to consider the origins of what it is we put in our mouths and feed to our children. As such Food Inc should be regarded as part of a wider debate on food production.
From what we’ve seen and read, the movie is based on a brace of conspiracy theories relating to food production ownership and food quality. The past is portrayed as good and present as a pastoral fantasy. As always, the truth will be somewhere in the middle.
The film makes the point that today’s food industry bears little resemblance to that of 50 years ago. That’s probably not a bad thing when we compare the meat freezing companies of New Zealand 50 years ago with those of today. I know the environment I prefer, so there’s no nostalgia there.
There are conspiracies, and some are potentially damaging to New Zealand, such as the romance spun by the food miles lobby. Food miles are a thinly veiled trade barrier, the major victim of which are the poorer emerging nations. Food miles are also in the philosophical mix of farmers markets which in most instances are too “rich” for the average punter. The Otara market is more realistic.
The thing to remember with Food Inc is that much of it is about another country, and won’t apply here – after all we can still get meat with bones (as I’m sure you still can in the US).
Parts of the New Zealand food industry have suffered before from imported shows about food. Jamie Oliver did a huge disservice to our chicken nuggets when he banged on in his school dinners programme about their very different composition in the UK. Here nuggets took a hit that was not justified.
For those inclined to see Food Inc, remember it is a point of view, not the only view.