Food, Inc. Directed by Robert Kenner
Preparing for the Film
1. What are some of the issues affecting food production, purchase, and consumption that
you are aware of?
2. What do you picture when you imagine where our food comes from? What mental
images do you have of farms and ranches?
3. What can you imagine might be some difficulties for farmers and ranchers today?
4. What does the title Food, Inc. suggest will be the focus of the film?
5. What do you think the government's role should be in food production?
6. What are the challenges today for anyone shopping for groceries?
7. How has your diet changed in the last three years?
Reflecting on the Film
1. Contrast the images of farms that most people still believe exists with the reality of the
factories that prepare our food. Include details from the film for support.
2. What were the unintended consequences of fast food restaurants on the food quality,
costs, and working conditions in the restaurants and on farms?
3. What does the film capture about the chicken farms and the way the chicken is
produced?
4. What does Michael Pollan reveal are the problems with growing so much corn?
5. What is E. coli and how does the film show its medical and political significance?
6. What does the film reveal about our government's involvement in the way our food is
grown and sold?
7. What does the film illustrate about the choices poor people make in food purchasing?
8. Who is Joel Salatin and in what ways does he offer hope to people who want to improve
the quality of their food?
9. In what specific ways does the film suggest that business can offer solutions to our food
problems?
10. Summarize the problems farmers have had with the Monsanto Corporation.
11. What does the film reveal about the relationship between some specific government
elected and appointed officials and the problems for consumers of food?
12. The film concludes with the optimism that citizens and consumers of food can vote three
times a day about the food that they eat. What does the film specifically recommend?
Writing about the Film
1. Write an essay contrasting Joel Salatin's farm and values with the corporate farms and
values. Include specific quotations and images from the film to support your claims.
2. Write an analysis of the hidden costs of fast food in terms of food quality, working
conditions, and the health of humans and animals. Use specific quotations from Eric
Schlosser and Michael Pollen for support.
3. Focusing on the subsidizing and increased production of corn and corn products, write an
essay analyzing the dangers of "90% of products containing corn or a soybean ingredient
