On Tuesday, Penn dining halls’ Eat Local Challenge raised awareness about where Penn students get their food.
Students curious about this issue filled College Hall 200 Wednesday evening, to watch the award-winning documentary Food Fight and talk to producer and director Chris Taylor.
Taylor’s documentary, which he began filming in 2005, explores the negative effects of the industrial food system and the efforts of different people to combat its ills. For a thorough understanding of how the industrial food system came to harm Americans’ health, Taylor explores the history of food industrialization. The end result of industrialization was a system that emphasizes quantity and low cost but sacrifices quality and taste, according to the film.
According to Michael Pollan, the writer of The Omnivore’s Dilemma who was featured in Taylor’s documentary, “the industrial food system is making us sick.”
The documentary intersects the history of industrial food with stories of personal struggles against the system. Taylor’s documentary tells the story of restaurant chefs, organic farmers, community activists and politicians trying to promote a more healthy, localized and organic system.
In the end, the documentary emphasizes Americans’ freedom to make their own choices about the foods they eat and their ability to influence policy about the foods the United States produces and consumes.
The documentary received applause as the credits rolled. Wharton sophomore Ankit Shah said that he was very glad to see a documentary that explored the history and pressing issues of how Americans get their food.
The screening was followed by a lively discussion in which Taylor, as well as professor Mary Summers, who teaches a class called “The Politics of Food and Agriculture,” answered students’ questions and comments.
The discussion further explored the political and environmental issues related to food policy. Taylor also gave a brief description of some of the behind-the-scenes issues, including the editing of footage to make the documentary flow better. In addition, he described his interest in exploring the fast food industry’s role in the industrialization of food and the sickening of America.
