It’s been five years since the movie “Food Inc.” damaged the food industry’s reputation not only at the box office, but also through an extensive marketing campaign that included teachers popping in a DVD and presenting the movie as “the truth.”

This week another food industry-based movie called “Fed Up” hits the box office. This one is produced by Katie Couric and Laurie David and directed by Stephanie Soechtig. David produced Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”

I have not seen "Fed Up," which launches nationally this Friday, but based on the movie trailer, this one appears to focus largely on sugar consumption and added sugar in processed foods. Although the trailer did include a snapshot of cattle feeding.

Agriculture strikes back

Last week I had the chance to see the new documentary “Farmland” and I couldn’t stop thinking that poultry and meat processors could take a page out of the farmers’ playbook on this one by adding their own point of view to the food debate.

The film was funded by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a group of more than 80 agricultural organizations, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council and U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. This is the same group that ran the series of Food Dialogues (in person and online) last year.

The screening took place at a large AMC theater complex in downtown Chicago. Alliance members wearing badges that said, “I’m a farmer” gave out popcorn and parking vouchers. After the film, a panel of farmers took the stage to answer questions.

The documentary follows six (amazingly young) farmers, including: a cattle rancher, a chicken farmer, a hog farmer, a corn and soybean grower, an organic onion farmer and a woman who owns a micro-farm that grows fresh vegetables.

The Alliance teamed with Academy Award winning director James Moll; and it shows. The production values are high. He mixes action shots of their daily chores with personal backstories (including family births and deaths) and heartfelt interviews with each farmer. The film touches on the physical and financial challenges inherent in farming, as well as their love and passion for what they do for a living.

The film doesn’t shy away from such thorny issues as organic versus traditional, GMOs, antibiotics use in food animals and animal abuse. It doesn’t delve deeply, but rather, lets the viewer see and hear these farmers’ perspectives on these issues. These tougher issues are strategically addressed later in the film, after the viewer had a chance to experience the farmer and his/her family as human beings.

The Alliance isn’t the only food industry group choosing the vehicle of a documentary film. In April the Institute of Food Technologists announced plans to produce “FutureFood2050,” which will focus on the role of science in feeding an expanding global population.

I can’t help wishing for a similar representation of the processing industry. Why not?

There are plenty of processing companies owned by families who share the same family values as these farmers. There are plenty of physical and financial challenges involved in processing poultry, pork and beef. The processors I have met are every bit as passionate about animal welfare as these farmers; and they are every bit as passionate about their role in feeding a hungry planet as these food scientists.

Why not show the public the people behind their hamburgers, chicken nuggets and pork chops? Why not?

The American Meat Institute has done some great work for the meat processing industry with its Meat Mythcrushers video series. A feature-lenghth documentary film that focuses on the personal stories of the people in the industry, I believe, might reach a broader audience.

If you get a chance, watch "Farmland." I commend the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance for not only making this film, but also for marketing it in urban areas and for their plans to take it to high school and college campuses.

After all, that’s what Food Inc. did.

Antidote to Food Inc.

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