Put these on your Netflix list

A couple documentaries have come out in the past few years that were well marketed enough to bring a bit of food education into the average household. I wish more people would watch more of these movies. Here is a list of "must see" foodie films.

Food, Inc.- Probably the most popular, and for good reason. "The filmmaker takes his camera into slaughterhouses and factory farms where chickens grow too fast to walk properly, cows eat feed pumped with toxic chemicals, and illegal immigrants risk life and limb to bring these products to market at an affordable cost."



King Corn- My personal favorite because of its ironic humor. "Engrossing and eye-opening, KING CORN is a fun and crusading journey into the digestive tract of our fast food nation where one ultra-industrial, pesticide-laden, heavily-subsidized commodity dominates the food pyramid from top to bottom - corn. Fueled by curiosity and a dash of naivet‚, college buddies Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis return to their ancestral home of Greene, Iowa to figure out how a modest kernel conquered America. With the help of some real farmers, oodles of fertilizer and government aid, and some genetically modified seeds, the friends manage to grow one acre of corn. Along the way, they unlock the hilarious absurdities and scary but hidden truths about America's modern food system."



Supersize Me- Hopefully you've at least heard of this one by now. "Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock makes himself a test subject in this documentary about the commercial food industry. After eating a diet of McDonald's fast food three times a day for a month straight Spurlock proves the physical and mental effects of consuming fast food."



THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled patented genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan Canada to the fields of Oaxaca Mexico this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed about the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply



Sweet Misery- Although many artificial sweeteners have been proven toxic and dangerous since they were first created, they have somehow still ended up in our food. "This documentary is a close examination into what some consider to be a "hoax": aspartame toxicity. This documentary attempts to look at what is definitively known about aspartame and discovers that the label "hoax" in this case is a dangerous misconception. This controversial documentary is sure to open eyes to the possible dangers of what lurks in our food."

The World According to Monsanto- Did you know that much of the world's seed supply is owned by one multi-billion dollar company? Did you know that they genetically alter these seeds to require one kind of fertilizer that the very same company produces? Do you know the terrifying implications of that? It kind of makes me wonder why this DVD is hard to find...