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Food Inc Techniques

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Food, Inc. (2009) is an Academy Award nominated documentary. The purpose of this film is to demonstrate the flaws within the food industry in the United States and persuade viewers (consumers) to change the way they eat and to buy products from companies “that treat workers, animals and the environment with respect”. In order to persuade viewers of Food, Inc. to change their relationship with the food industry, the film utilizes footage captured on hidden cameras is also used to show viewers parts of the food industry that would otherwise be unknown as well as interviews with various kinds of people such as farmers and food safety advocates. However, some of the claims that the interviewees make are questionable. Three deceptive techniques …show more content…

are hasty conclusion, freeloading term and popularity. Despite the interviewees using different techniques in their claims, they were all deceptive and questionable for the same reason. Their statements were questionable primarily because the interviewees would make grandiose statements but lacked hard (or not enough) evidence to back up their claims. In a segment of the film that is discussing the outbreaks of various food-borne illnesses, investigative journalist Eric Schlosser is interviewed and he uses the deceptive technique of a hasty conclusion. This section of the film uses video clips from television news coverage starting in 1993 to show the various outbreaks that have taken place over the years. Schlosser states that “These [food] regulatory agencies are being controlled by the very companies they are supposed to be scrutinizing”. He supports this statement by citing that during the …show more content…

is popularity which is present in a statement made by Gary Hirshberg who is the founder of Stonyfield Farm, which makes organic yogurt. When speaking about the positive environmental impact of organic products Hirshberg says, “But nobody can challenge that sale of another million dollars to Walmart helps to save the world”. The deceptive technique of popularity has the following conditions: “1. Someone claims or implies that a proposition is true or credible and offers as support that it is widely accepted…2. In the circumstances, the popularity or unpopularity of the proposition is not an adequate reason for accepting or rejecting it” (Johnson and Blair 178). By saying that his statement of Walmart helping to save the world is unchallengeable, Hirshberg is suggesting that this is a widely accepted belief. Although Hirshberg does give some evidence of how organic products do not use pesticides etc. which is better for the environment, without any quantitative data of how this sale is positively impacting the environment his claim is not

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How this idea relates to the article is best demonstrated by Surowiecki’s Lululemon example. In the article, the brand Lululemon is initially a successful yoga clothing line; however, soon consumers start finding the clothing to be defective and begin compiling their complaints. The unionized complaints reach out to the founder for explanation regarding these defective articles. The founder, instead of admitting fault to providing subpar products, blames the consumer for the defects by claiming they are too overweight for the Lululemon products. The sociological term most closely related to this scenario is social imagination.

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In this essay “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” by Marion Nestle, Nestle discusses the different tactics used by supermarkets to attract and expose customers to more products. Supermarkets argue that people's food intake is not their responsibility, it is their own; however, supermarkets sell their more unhealthy products at lower prices. While many people go to grocery stores for certain items, they tend to come back with extras. A supermarkets priority is to sell their products, but their underlying goal is to sell as much as possible. Some grocery stores have even hired social scientists to help learn about humans and how to manipulate them into buying more products.

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In the United States today, a large part of the average person’s life is food. Each individual consumes nearly one ton of food each year, but never knows what they are truly putting into their body. Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, was one of the earliest works that provided people an insight to the production of their food. The novel was originally written to show the mistreatment of the workers, typically immigrants, but instead resulted in the passing of the Pure Food Act of 1906. The movie, Food Inc. provides today’s people the same insight that The Jungle gave the people in 1906.

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Alec Adorno Mrs. Nyhan 11 AP English April 5, 2024 Food Inc. Rhetorical Analysis The food industry has been constantly criticized by people for an abundance of reasons. Because of these strong feelings, many writers have expressed their opinions on the issues as they break down the structure of the industry.

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The director’s assertion, in the film, is also that food companies are in control of what goes in our food and how is it produced. The documentary investigates

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The American documentary film, Food, Inc. creates a rhetorical, ceremonial argument that is to anger and disgust consumers that are most prominently of the lower and middle classes by showing them the horrors of the present day industrial food system that tend

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Food regulation and laws are a normal part of our life. In the early 1900’s, big businesses were ruthless and more concerned with making larger profits than the quality of its products. Also, in that time, the competition between businesses was scarce opposed to today’s market. There are countless number of businesses and companies in which one can purchase their goods from. This causes companies to really focus on the quality of their product in order to please the consumer.

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582 Words | 3 Pages

In the documentary “Food Inc” (2008) directed by Robert Kenner, Kenner claims that the food industry is corrupt in many ways, and provides facts to back it up. Kenner takes the viewers through the whole process of how food is made. He begins within farms showing explicit footage of how animals were raised poorly in very unsanitary environments, while then moving to factories where animals were brutally slaughtered and showing the stores where people buy the food. Kenner’s purpose is to explain to readers how food is made in order to show how corrupt the food industry really is. This documentary is intended for the American people so they can know what goes on behind the scene of the food they eat in their everyday life.

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Many companies and people had failed to label foods and drugs properly claiming that they are something they are not. “Before the act, companies could alternate ingredients for a more inexpensive, low quality substitute. This made for a better profit for the producers” (“Results/Impact.”). However, with the Pure Food and Drug Act these “companies could either shut down or label the foods properly” (“Results/Impact.”). Many were against consuming products that were harmful to them which is why “[t]he House vote was 240-17” (Robertson, Derek, et al.), making the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 “one of the most daring demonstrations of bureaucratic autonomy in the history of the United States” (“Pure Food and Drug Act (1906).”).

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1266 Words | 6 Pages

Food corporations look to those who have recognizable credentials. By explaining that she lacked sufficient background knowledge and is a well-informed as a common person, Miller proves that she has nothing of value that they can learn. In her article, she mentions that she “cautiously raise a subject that has concerned me of late: less than five miles away, some children don’t have enough to eat” (2). Her experience with families lacking healthy food has only recently become an issue of worry for her, and thereby is not qualified to present new solutions to the problem. Through failing to build up a credible relationship with her target audience, Miller’s argument becomes a waste and is an inefficiency.

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1472 Words | 6 Pages

This phrase has not only become popular in the broadcast world, but even in conversation, for individuals have been brainwashed by believing this is a credible

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606 Words | 3 Pages

Food Inc is a documentary that basically shows the audience how the food is produced. Robert Kenner's, the director of the film, assertion of this film is that food companies are in control of what goes in our food and how it is processed. In the film, Large corporations are taking over the food industry, causing mass production and causing citizens to get sick. In the first section of this film, it shows how the meat is produced for human consumption, mainly focusing on cows, chickens, and pigs. The producers visit two chicken farms, where the audience is shown the differences in raising chicken.

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1819 Words | 8 Pages

The FDA and USDA work to try and make sure food is as safe as possible but their approach needs to be reevaluated. Splitting the control of regulations between multiple agencies causes confusion that can prevent proper precautions from being taken. The FDA regulates the majority of the food available to Americans but due to ineffective testing and lack of precaution taken more work needs to be done. It is important that food safety is taken seriously because of how much of an impact food has on people's lives. In order to keep the American public healthy, food regulations need to be up to

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923 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the film Food, Inc it illustrates the harsh reality of our food industry and provides us with a background of how our food is progressed. This film brings to light a major issue that is in our society and highlights the factor that not much has changed. You would expect these industries to be improving their conditions on the quality of our food, however, this is far from true. These industries have been hiding the reality of their food and this film illustrates how they only care about the profit they make, not the quality.

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970 Words | 4 Pages

During an interview in Fed Up Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition at New York University, comments that, “ Food companies are interested in selling more food. That’s their job as a corporation, and one way to do that is to co-opt potential critics.” (Fed Up) An example of this is Former First Lady Michelle Obama's “Let’s Move” campaign. Launched on February 9, 2010 “Let’s Move” opened people's eyes to how food industries market harmful products to kids.

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