Robert Kenner's 2008 documentary Food Inc. presents a very revealing and at times unsettling view of food industry of the United States. In this documentary Kenner reveals the complexities behind the seemingly simple foods in the U.S., mainly meat, corn and soy beans. He tears away all preconceived notions that most people have about the food that they eat.

First off, the idea of a farm being a heap of land run by a family with a small house, white picket fence and a big red barn is a rarity in this industrious modern era. In its place exists a system focused on expenses, profits, and control of the market. Cattle is not raised on a farm, but on a massive feeding complex with thousands of other cows. These cows are kept in the conditions that they create, very unsanitary ones. They are fed corn, a substance which facilities much greater growth compared to grass, the food that cows bodies evolved around. An unintended result of the cows dietary change was that somehow the consumption of corn yielded salmonella in the cows system, and therefore in the meat that came from the cow. Another area that the documentrary focused on was the patented soybean of the Monsanto corporation. This company genetically engineered a soybean seed that could withstand a weed killer, allowing the fields to be sprayed down while still allowing the crop to grow. Monsanto patented the seed and has somehow made it illegal to save any seed for the next season. The documentary interviewed farmers that had broken that pattent by saving the seeds for the next season, and were then sued to death by the Monsanto Corporation and its seemingly unstoppable legal power.

These facts are very surprising, but the arguement is very one sided. While the treatment of the animals may be disturbing, the bottom line is that people kill animals to eat them. The demand for meat in the United States is so high that the only option that makes economic sense is to produce cows on such a large scale. Food and produce is a business and the leaders of that business are going to do what ever makes the most sense economically and in this case that is consolidation. As for the out breaks of salmonella and the harsh treatment of the labor force, people should not be placing blame on the companies, but on the government. If America's industrial revolution taught us anything its that companies will do what ever they can get away with to trim the budget. No matter how extreme the means are, a smaller budget is always enough justification for them. If people want their food to be safer they should pressure the government to make the FDA stronger instead of trying to change the companies. Though the documentary demonstrated that the food corporations have spread their tentacles into capital hill, politicians will not act in a way that will directly change their voters views about them.

While the Monsanto Corporation is acting incredibly cruel, their actions are justifiable. The development of a seed that is impervious to a chemical agent that kills plant life could not have been cheap to come up with. Now that cooperation is trying to draw in as much profit off of a huge expense. Though I do agree their rules are unfair, people should be focusing on how Monsanto's power over their customer can be limited, not trying to directly take down the cooperation. Taking down Monsanto is impossible, changing the rules on their patent is more reasonable. Companies will only act as greedily as the government lets them. Food companies are no different. Food Inc. places the blame on the companies, when the blame should be focused on the lack of regulations that allow their unethical and discussing actions.