Film and Print and Food

Good Ol' Joel comin' atcha
through the magic of film.

    I definitely felt more emotionally moved after watching Food Inc. I'm not sure how much more it affected me than The Omnivore's Dilemma though. I think the largest difference was in the styles between the two different pieces. Pollan left me wanting to research and know more about the industrial food system but Food Inc. just left me lacking somehow. I think that the thought behind Pollan's book is what hit me and really made me want to understand what he was saying. His approach to telling us about the industrial food system seems to really value exhaustive research and a mostly humble presentation of that research. Food Inc. on the other hand really hits you over the head with its information and is much more forceful in its presentation.
     I definitely felt more of a kinship with Pollan than I did with whoever created Food Inc. I do think that it was a really valuable visual look at the food industry but I thought that it tried a little too hard. It definitely added some pieces of the picture for me and the emotions it elicited with the images and music are valuable because the subject needs some representation in popular culture but the film seemed like it knew what it was doing too well. That I think Food Inc. tried too hard may sound kind of strange, but I loved Pollan's self-conscious and constantly questioning approach to interrogating the food system. Food Inc. just came off as something that was trying to get you to think in a certain way and I don't like that. I thought Pollan's presentation of his own experience with not that much intentional persuasion was in fact more persuasive than Food Inc.'s style of presentation.
    I guess that the two forms of media are two different sides of the same coin. Film lends itself more to sensationalist representations of problems in society while the book works better as a more drawn out, inquisitive expose of the material. I can see many more college students/people with short attention spans becoming inspired by Food Inc or motivated to do something because of it. Not to sound super pretentious but The Omnivore's Dilemma seems like a more mature form of exposing the food industry's industry. That's too harsh I think. I guess the conclusion that I've come to is that Food Inc.'s main appeal are the visual aspects of it; those animations and the graphs inside of pigs. The Omnivore's Dilemma's attraction for me revolves around the narrative and the draw of someone taking us through the process of discovering the true nature of the food industry. It's stupid to say one is "more mature". Each of them appeal to a different audience and I guess that I just identified more with Pollan than that really passionate guy who made Fast Food Nation. I loooved Joel Salatin in both places though. His passion and strength to do something and even create his own farm were great and incredibly inspiring. Plus his suspenders are AMAZING.