Welfare of Industry Over Welfare of Humanity: Are We to Blame?

The most surprising thing I learned in Food, Inc. (2008), directed by Robert Kenner, is not only the lack of power, but the lack of effort and values of the food industry regulatory agencies such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) – and that this is mainly because of Americans’ own greed. The regulatory efforts made by these agencies (or lack thereof) are insufficient in monitoring the basic safety of our food while their sole purpose is to do just that. For example, in the documentary, it is stated that “In 1972, the FDA conducted approximately 50,000 food safety inspections. In 2006, the FDA conducted 9,164” (Kenner, Robert). Why should an agency that was designed to protect consumers deliberately downgrade their efforts to do so? Part of this reason is that there is a constant battle between the importance of the welfare of industry over the regulatory agencies. This is largely due to that fact that the very advocates of the food industry are running the agencies that are supposed to be controlling them. For example, during the Bush administration, the Chief of Staff of the USDA was a former lobbyist for the beef industry (Kenner, Robert). Why even have an agency to regulate the food industry if this was allowed?

The images and scenes presented in Food, Inc. that bring to light the faults of these agencies were not only shocking to me, but proved how little protection we have for and how much trust we are really putting in our food. This in itself is truly saddening – the fact that we could be putting something in our mouths that could make us sick, or even die; foods with bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, is something most people never would have considered a concern when determining which food to buy and eat. Now the safety of our food has become one of consumers’ top priorities but is one which so shockingly remains the least concern of our food regulatory agencies. Barbara Kowalcyk, a woman interviewed for the film about her son’s death from a strain of E. Coli in meat, continued to fight for the safety of her food after her son’s death. It took sixteen days for the plant that produced her son’s meat to recall the meat, and she was utterly disgusted with the lack of effort of the food regulatory agencies. Her further investigations brought to light some scary conclusions. After discovering that the USDA really didn’t have the power to shut down plants in the first place even if they repeatedly failed salmonella and E. coli tests, as discovered in a court case between the USDA and the meat poultry associations in 1998, she wanted to make a change. A new law was brought to the table regarding the power of agencies over plants known as Kevin’s Law. “Kevin’s Law would give back to the USDA the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produce contaminated meat” (Kenner, Robert). The law has still not passed even after six years after having been proposed.

It seems like such a simple aspect – ensuring that food accessible to the public is safe to eat. However, as seen through the outbreaks of harmful food and the constant struggle between consumers and the food industry, this formerly thought “right” to safe food has turned into something that is not always guaranteed.

Our culture, however, is partly to blame for this. For example, feeding corn to animals such as cows in combination with raising livestock on feeding lots in unsanitary conditions (cows standing in each other’s manure) is the perfect condition for E. coli to appear and spread more easily. (Kenner, Robert). Our need for everything, and now our food, to be produced on a large scale is only leading to the very problems we complain about. So, the bigger question is, what do we value more? The easy accessibility to and variety of food, or being able to sit down at the table and know that the meal you are about to eat won’t bring harm to you?

I myself have decided to be more conscious of where my food is coming from. Although my Mom already makes sure that as much of our food possible is organic and that we buy from farmers’ markets as often as we can, I am going to make sure myself that I try my best to ensure that what I’m eating is safe.

Works Cited

Kenner, Robert (Director). (2008). Food, Inc.