Summary
-
Food, Inc. 2
exposes the dangerous monopolistic power of corporations in the food industry, impacting workers, consumers, and the environment. You can watch a clip above. - The film emphasizes the need for antitrust enforcement to prevent powerful companies from dominating the food system for unlimited profits while exploiting workers and poisoning people.
- The film urges audiences to demand change and support efforts to break up monopolies to create a more sustainable and ethical food industry.
When it came to theaters in 2009, Food, Inc. made a big impact on the collective perception of the food industry, which had undergone drastic and destructive changes since modernization and politicization. The film featured a variety of passionate critics of corporate food production, including Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation). 15 years later, the industry seems even worse, leading to Food, Inc. 2, a rare documentary sequel (available on digital platforms April 12). You can watch an information-packed clip above and check out more information below.
The synopsis for the film reads as follows: “Food, Inc. 2 is a timely and urgent follow-up to the Oscar®-nominated documentary from directors Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo. In the sequel, Kenner and Robledo reunite with investigative authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser to take a fresh look at our vulnerable food system. The groundbreaking Food, Inc. ignited a cultural conversation about the multinational corporations that control our food system at enormous cost to our planet, workforce, and health.” It continues:
”
Food, Inc. 2 comes “back for seconds” to reveal how corporate consolidation has gone unchecked by our government
, leaving us with a highly efficient yet shockingly vulnerable food system dedicated only towards increasing profits. Seeking solutions, the film introduces innovative farmers, food producers, workers’ rights activists, and prominent legislators such as U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Jon Tester, who are facing these companies head-on and fighting to create a more sustainable future.”
Food, Inc.
- Release Date
- September 7, 2008
- Director
- Robert Kenner
- Cast
- Gary Hirshberg , Michael Pollan , Troy Roush , Joel Salatin , Eric Schlosser
- Runtime
- 94
- Writers
- Robert Kenner , Elise Pearlstein , Kim Roberts
“When we made the first Food, Inc., we thought that if viewers got to see how our food is made, we could change the food system one bite at a time,” explained Kenner and Robledo in their director’s statement. “Fifteen years later, it’s clear that ethical shopping isn’t enough, that meaningful change is going to require breaking up the handful of very large and very powerful companies that dominate the food industry.”
“So, while we never intended to make a sequel to Food, Inc., we found ourselves reconnected to food issues when meatpacking plants became COVID hotspots in 2020 and Americans from coast to coast suddenly faced food shortages. Although the pandemic was the catalyst, the film soon became a much wider exploration of the major issues in our food system such as unchecked monopoly power — and the dangers it now poses to workers, to consumers and ultimately to our world.”
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Food, Inc. 2 Explores the Monopolization of Food Production
The above clip quickly and efficiently breaks down the rapid rise in monopolization in the food industry, as corporations buy each other up, controlling more and more of the market. Part of the problem, Pollan says, is the government’s failure to enforce antitrust laws, which are “structured to protect not only consumers but also producers, ranchers and farmers from the dangers of monopoly,” he explains. “They’re also constructed to protect all of us from concentrations of power.”
As the film’s press notes explain, there has always been a relationship between corporations and government officials, but in the last three decades, a lack of antitrust regulation has eliminated competition, creating incredibly rich and powerful corporations which, according to Schlosser, “use their money to get elected officials who pass laws and issue executive orders that they want.”
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Schlosser continues to emphasize that “the lack of limits on corporate spending has just allowed these companies to effectively buy our governments,” he explains. “And when there’s an absence of this sort of government regulation, these companies are able to impose their business costs on the rest of society.”
“We have the tools to stop these companies from getting larger and larger,” Robledo says. “I hope that consumers demand that we see more antitrust enforcement.” Hopefully, Food, Inc. 2 will be a wake-up call for audiences that keeps them awake, without needing another sequel. To learn more and receive updates about the campaign, please visit Foodinc2.com. The film will be available on digital platforms like Google Play, Apple TV, Prime Video, and others on April 12. You can watch the trailer below:
