Judging from the reviews and reactions on the POV Food, Inc. pages, Wednesday night’s PBS broadcast made quite an impact on American viewers.
Kicking off PBS’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Food, Inc. seemed to strike a chord with viewers who were already aware of some of the issues raised in Food, Inc., as well as with those hearing about it for the first time. Here are a few of our favorite comments.
“My initial reaction upon hearing about this movie was ‘No way they will tell me anything I don’t know.’ Was I wrong! Even though I am an organic grower of veggies and fruit, have worked on a CSA before, and support a local meat CSA, for all the reasons that exist….I was still educated by this film. I want every last person in this country to see it. It is that important to our future. All of us are in this together. See it…think about it, and then DO something about it. Please!” — Garlic Deva from Boonville, NY
“We found this positively riveting, and were appalled at the same time. As a result, we made a comittment [sic] to buy locally grown meat and vegetables whenever possible.” — Barbara Monroe from East Lansing, Michigan
“I just watched Food, Inc. and am still trying to wrap my head around how asinine and topsy-turvy regulations and policies have become! Suing farmers for reusing their own seeds? FDA trying to shut down a pork and poultry farm because they don’t use toxic chemicals to “clean” after slaughter? Not fining big companies that purposely hire illegal- and have even sought out illegal by going to Mexico- so they can avoid going through Unions? That some state have made it illegal to criticize how meat packaging process works? That politicians who were paid by lobbyists now work for those companies? By all means, knowledge is power.” — Erin Carter from Gardner, KS
“I was raised on a farm, I know farming. At times we had pigs, cows, and chickens. We raised most of the food the animals ate. We rarely put fertilizer on our fields, the cows didn’t like to eat the grass when we did. We never raised more then we could take care of, my dad worked another job as well. My great-great grandparents, great-grandparents and my grandparents were farmers a well. They even sold milk, but the cows where in the field eating grass in the day time, we never cut the tails or burned them before milking. We had good cover for the animals when it rained, cold, icy and hot. Our chickens ran free and the pigs had a very large area to roam. Our cows actually liked us and we knew each of them very well. I now live in Nebraska close to Colorado and Wyoming I can’t believe what I see and smell every day. The poor cows standing in feed lots up to their knees in well you can guess. No cover no place to lie down. The smell is so bad. Some farmers are no better. There is no cover the cows huddle together in the cold and again in the summer to I guess kept flies a bay or shade each other.
…Like I said I was raised on a farm, I was taught to respect animals, to love the land. I have to wonder who the people now days respect and love.” — Lola from Nebraska
“Thank YOU, PBS, and all the people behind Food, Inc. for uncovering the truth behind what we eat. This program has really opened my eyes to the big picture. We’ve always had a garden and tried to buy food from farmer’s markets, but I was unaware of the stories behind brands at the store. I will pay more attention now to labels when I go grocery shopping. I do believe, however, that what it all comes down to, is a loss of integrity fueled by greed in unethical developers. Very sad. If we all protest current conditions with our wallets – they WILL hear the money slipping out of their pockets and be forced to listen and change their ways. We can change, America, one person at a time – through the truth and being people of integrity who do what is right. My hat goes off to those farmers who stood their ground – God bless you!” — Christina from Honolulu, HI
“Every time I read articles and posts like this I get pumped. I am so glad that the word is spreading. I am a firm believer that soon, the covers will be removed and there will be no more hiding… no more game playing and being taken advantage of. An informed public can be powerful if they are ready to take action. Same reason I have created our web TV. At fitkid.tv we are willing to do/give what ever it takes to save the world. That includes TELLING the TRUTH! Keep it coming POV!” — Coach Scott from Austin, TX
After the broadcast of Food, Inc. last night, Nebraska Public Television aired a forum with three local farmers, (from l-to-r): Anne Burkholder, co-owner and president of Will Feed, Inc.; Terry Landes, marketing director of Prairieland Dairy; and Bart Beattie, a Sumner, Nebraska farmer who grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa, and also raises beef and hogs.
“Nebraska Educational Television premiers this movie tonight (April 21st at 7:00) along with a farmer panel discussion of the movie which aims to address the question of ‘What does your farmer look like?’ and ‘How is food produced in Nebraska’? I encourage all of you to get on the … website and watch the farmer panel in order to continue to study the questions that the film raised. The panel discussion will be available on the internet to view from April 22 to April 29th: go to www.netnebraska.org/foodinc to view it during the above time period… (Ed. note: Click on the link in the sidebar to the right to watch video) — Anne Burkholder, a cattle farmer from Cozad, Nebraska
If you didn’t catch Food, Inc. last night on PBS, you can still watch it online at our website. Please take a moment to share your reactions to it on the Food, Inc. web page. And come back to our site on Tuesday, April 27 at 2 pm ET for a live chat with director, Robert Kenner. In the meantime, you can enter questions for Robert on his filmmaker interview page.