Coming soon to select theatres and on VOD beginning April 12, 2024

According to US Senate Corey Booker of New Jersey, America’s food system is savagely broken. In the well-meaning documentary, FOOD, INC. 2, viewers are looking at how the industry has changed when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, what’s still wrong with it and how it’s affected the global distribution chain. It’s a loose sequel to the original, simply titled FOOD, INC. made 15 years ago.

While the last film by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo was about the industrialised nature of America’s food supply by saying monopoly is bad, there’s more being explored in this latest release. What’s examined shows Booker and Jon Tester as the most vocal U.S. Senators who want to save more than just the American heartland. And at the same time, we see problems. At some farms, migrant workers are mistreated, and some are even underpaid! Another concern asks whether shipping food from one corner of the world to another is really needed. There are a lot of issues being explored, and this work could be made better by having intertitle cards to separate each issue out. Not everything is related.

As for my interest with genetically modified foods there’s more to it than just making sure some food item can survive a blight. There’s also manufacturing things from the genetic level too. I tried Beyond Beef and for the most part, it does not taste like beef. If it’s not cooked right, what my buds register is rather blah. I found myself wanting to splash a lot of condiments on top and that’s not particularly healthy either.

The only segment that really made an impact on me is in how major food distributors and fast-food companies have used pervasive marketing to push their ideology around. What’s exposed may well have some people consider taking up gardening or becoming a weekend hunter-gatherer. After watching this work, I’m inclined to forage in the woods for my next meal and perhaps take down an elk to put in the fridge. One will be enough for my family to survive on for half a year, if not more.

But also, I can’t help but think about the movie Interstellar by Chris Nolan. In that film, there’s an implication that these large scale company monopolies led to the downfall of farms. It’s not just about the world becoming incapable of sustaining crops, but also there’s some bureaucracy involved. Had the screenplay offered more details about how the blight started, I’m sure that’d be a mini-movie in itself.

While FOOD, INC. 2 offers some food for thought on what people can do now to save the planet, it’s never too late! All anyone has to do is change what they buy. The pandemic has shown how some people have adapted. But not everyone made a permanent transition and has gone back to getting what’s convenient to put on the dinner table. Until a revolution happens, everyone is affected since everything that’s put on the plate doesn’t have to be there. Sometimes, a fruit can replace a protein, or folks can drink a power shake instead.

3½ Stars out of 5