Film Analysis of Food, Inc.
SandyK
FilmAnalysisofFoodInccopy.pdf
SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology
Sociological Film Analysis
Food, Inc.
Adapted from Ecoliteracy’s Discussion Guide
Instructions: Take notes while watching the 2008 documentary, Food, Inc. (Watch the Trailer
now, a link to the whole film will be provided later.) After watching the film, select Theme A or
Theme B to conduct a sociological analysis on food production and consumption. The questions
below should provide fodder for your analysis. In other words, build your essay around
addressing the broader issues presented in the questions, do not attempt to answer the questions
verbatim.
Theme A: Should access to healthy food be a right for everyone?
• Do you think healthy eating should be a right, a responsibility, or a privilege?
• Would it be okay with you that healthy food is only available to people who can afford it?
o If so, what might be the consequences of that—both to individuals and society? (For example, by eating less healthy food, low-income individuals have more
health issues, are sick more often, require more health care, miss more days of
work, and have lower job performance.)
o If not, how might we make healthy food available to everyone?
• The film gives the impression that food is either cheap or healthy. Do you think it is true that food is either one or the other, or is this a false dichotomy?
• In the film, the mother, Maria Andrea Gonzalez, says, “We’re really tight from either paying for his [Alfredo Orozco’s] medicine to be healthy or buying vegetables to be healthy.” Which
should she choose if she cannot afford both?
• How have our government policies affected the types and costs of available foods?
• How does the cheap price of processed food affect low-income families? Is this fair?
• How do you think the way your grandparents used to eat differs from how you eat today?”
SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology
Theme B: When deciding what to eat, how much should we consider the workers who pick,
process, and transport it?
• In the film, union organizer Eduardo Peña says, “We want to pay the cheapest price for our food. We don’t understand that it comes at a price.” Do you agree or disagree with him?
What evidence do you see in the film that led you to agree or disagree? What evidence do
you see in your life that informs your position as well?
• Whether or not you think illegal immigration (or the influx of undocumented workers) is a problem, how is illegal immigration connected to the food we eat?
• If you think it is okay for companies to recruit foreign workers this way, what might be the repercussions of that?
• When a person chooses to eat meat, who else does that decision affect?
• You’ve seen in the film how the production of some of the meat we eat affects the workers involved in the production. It portrays these people as having no choice because farmers in
other countries can no longer farm as a result of our food system. Assuming it is true that
there aren’t local people to do this work, do you think companies have the right to recruit
foreign workers to come into the country, as you saw in the film? What do you think of that?
• What alternative might the companies have if they can’t find local people to do the work?
• Author Michael Pollan uses the phrase “Vote with Your Fork” to mean that consumers have the ability to influence companies by what they choose to eat.
Helpful Articles
Small Food Co-ops in a Whole Foods® World
Sociologist Michael A. Haedicke explores the world of organic foods co-ops and examines how
these countercultural stores are defending their democratic ideals and practices in an increasingly
competitive marketplace.
Source: Haedicke, Michael A. 2014. “Small Food Co-ops in a Whole Foods® World.”
Contexts. 13 (3): 32-37.
Farm Power without Farmers
As America's small farmers dwindle to a precious few, they remain national icons with broad
public support and impressive political clout. This paradox highlights the economic, political,
and symbolic power of farming in the United States, all of which may not suffice to save family
farms.
Source: Lobao, Linda and Meyer, Katherine. 2014. “Farm Power without Farmers.”
Contexts. 13 (3): 12-21.
SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology
Foodscape
Sociologist Norah MacKendrick examines the concept of a foodscape, from its origins in
geography to its use and meaning in sociology.
Source: Mackendrick, Norah. 2014. “Foodscape.” Contexts. 13 (3): 16-18.
Foodies Remaking Cities
Drawing examples from the North American food cart movement and restaurant scenes in
gentrifying neighborhoods, sociologists Amy Hanser and Zachary Hyde explore the role of food
in transforming urban spaces.
Source: Hanser, Amy and Zachary Hyde. 2014. “Foodies Remaking Cities.” Contexts. 13
(3),
44-49.
Food Insecurity in Rural America
Sociologists Joy Rayanne Piontak and Michael D. Schulman explore spatial inequalities
in food insecurity in the United States, specifically the problems of hunger and food access in
non-metropolitan and rural localities.
Source: Piontak, Joy Rayanne and Schulman, Michael D. 2014. “Food Insecurity in Rural
America.” Contexts. 13 (3): 75-77.
Culinary Capitalism
Sociologist Shamus Khan writes about life of the modern food system, and how it may well be
the greatest triumph of capitalism.
Source: Khan, Shamus. 2014. “Culinary Capitalism.” Contexts. 13 (3): 88-88.
Meat, Morals, and Masculinity
Little research has contrasted perceptions of omnivores and vegetarians, particularly with respect
to morality and gender characteristics. In two between-subject studies, we investigated people’s
perceptions of others who follow omnivorous and vegetarian diets, controlling for the perceived
healthiness of the diets in question.
Source: Ruby, Matthew B., and Heine, Steven J. 2011. “Meat, Morals, and
Masculinity.” Appetite, 56 (2), 447-450.
