Food, Inc.: Michael Pollan Tells Us How to Eat

Didn't Eric Schlosser already get his movie made? And along with Fast Food Nation, haven't we already seen Super Size Me? And Our Daily Bread and a slew of other food docs? Now director Robert Kenner adds to the organic stack, using Schlosser and über-foodie Michael Pollan as his primary sources. Problem is, no matter how much Seattle viewers will (inevitably) agree with all the eat-local, food-miles, and change-big-agribusiness arguments here, we've already had a stomachful from prior books and films. We already shop at Whole Foods and PCC. Who else is this movie trying to reach? For a broader message, recruit Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus to campaign against McDonald's, Tyson, and Monsanto. Kenner's film is clear and well-presented, and the requisite trips to the slaughterhouse aren't too gory for children. His most engaging new advocate is Virginia organic farmer Joel Salatin, who slaughters a few chickens for us on camera, surely a valuable lesson for kids curious about the poultry beneath the shrink-wrap. But with a new administration running the FDA and USDA, with the old Bush (non-) regulators returned to the industry from whence they came, Food, Inc. usefully suggests that the next big battle for our nation's health will come not in the cornfields but in the corridors of Washington, D.C.