Food inc discussion guide answers

SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology

1 | cgrice@dcccd.edu

Sociological Film Analysis

Food, Inc.

Adapted from Ecoliteracy’s Discussion Guide

Instructions: Take notes while watching the 2008 documentary, Food, Inc. (Watch the Trailer

now, a link to the whole film will be provided later.) After watching the film, select Theme A or

Theme B to conduct a sociological analysis on food production and consumption. The questions

below should provide fodder for your analysis. In other words, build your essay around

addressing the broader issues presented in the questions, do not attempt to answer the questions

verbatim.

Theme A: Should access to healthy food be a right for everyone?

• Do you think healthy eating should be a right, a responsibility, or a privilege?

• Would it be okay with you that healthy food is only available to people who can afford it?

o If so, what might be the consequences of that—both to individuals and society? (For example, by eating less healthy food, low-income individuals have more

health issues, are sick more often, require more health care, miss more days of

work, and have lower job performance.)

o If not, how might we make healthy food available to everyone?

• The film gives the impression that food is either cheap or healthy. Do you think it is true that food is either one or the other, or is this a false dichotomy?

• In the film, the mother, Maria Andrea Gonzalez, says, “We’re really tight from either paying for his [Alfredo Orozco’s] medicine to be healthy or buying vegetables to be healthy.” Which

should she choose if she cannot afford both?

• How have our government policies affected the types and costs of available foods?

• How does the cheap price of processed food affect low-income families? Is this fair?

• How do you think the way your grandparents used to eat differs from how you eat today?”

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https://www.dcccd.edu/au/sustainability/facsustainresources/foodresources/foodinc/documents/food%20inc%20discussion%20questions.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHJiNC_7wuw
SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology

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Theme B: When deciding what to eat, how much should we consider the workers who pick,

process, and transport it?

• In the film, union organizer Eduardo Peña says, “We want to pay the cheapest price for our food. We don’t understand that it comes at a price.” Do you agree or disagree with him?

What evidence do you see in the film that led you to agree or disagree? What evidence do

you see in your life that informs your position as well?

• Whether or not you think illegal immigration (or the influx of undocumented workers) is a problem, how is illegal immigration connected to the food we eat?

• If you think it is okay for companies to recruit foreign workers this way, what might be the repercussions of that?

• When a person chooses to eat meat, who else does that decision affect?

• You’ve seen in the film how the production of some of the meat we eat affects the workers involved in the production. It portrays these people as having no choice because farmers in

other countries can no longer farm as a result of our food system. Assuming it is true that

there aren’t local people to do this work, do you think companies have the right to recruit

foreign workers to come into the country, as you saw in the film? What do you think of that?

• What alternative might the companies have if they can’t find local people to do the work?

• Author Michael Pollan uses the phrase “Vote with Your Fork” to mean that consumers have the ability to influence companies by what they choose to eat.

Helpful Articles

Small Food Co-ops in a Whole Foods® World

Sociologist Michael A. Haedicke explores the world of organic foods co-ops and examines how

these countercultural stores are defending their democratic ideals and practices in an increasingly

competitive marketplace.

Source: Haedicke, Michael A. 2014. “Small Food Co-ops in a Whole Foods® World.”

Contexts. 13 (3): 32-37.

Farm Power without Farmers

As America's small farmers dwindle to a precious few, they remain national icons with broad

public support and impressive political clout. This paradox highlights the economic, political,

and symbolic power of farming in the United States, all of which may not suffice to save family

farms.

Source: Lobao, Linda and Meyer, Katherine. 2014. “Farm Power without Farmers.”

Contexts. 13 (3): 12-21.

mailto:cgrice@dcccd.edu
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IRi8I5JQSQCxNHLu8sJhrfBnTzQankkf
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pBHbGFdhR4Y6omcPrjz4Y-5eaG_-FFOA
SOCI 1301-Introduction to Sociology

3 | cgrice@dcccd.edu

Foodscape

Sociologist Norah MacKendrick examines the concept of a foodscape, from its origins in

geography to its use and meaning in sociology.

Source: Mackendrick, Norah. 2014. “Foodscape.” Contexts. 13 (3): 16-18.

Foodies Remaking Cities

Drawing examples from the North American food cart movement and restaurant scenes in

gentrifying neighborhoods, sociologists Amy Hanser and Zachary Hyde explore the role of food

in transforming urban spaces.

Source: Hanser, Amy and Zachary Hyde. 2014. “Foodies Remaking Cities.” Contexts. 13

(3),

44-49.

Food Insecurity in Rural America

Sociologists Joy Rayanne Piontak and Michael D. Schulman explore spatial inequalities

in food insecurity in the United States, specifically the problems of hunger and food access in

non-metropolitan and rural localities.

Source: Piontak, Joy Rayanne and Schulman, Michael D. 2014. “Food Insecurity in Rural

America.” Contexts. 13 (3): 75-77.

Culinary Capitalism

Sociologist Shamus Khan writes about life of the modern food system, and how it may well be

the greatest triumph of capitalism.

Source: Khan, Shamus. 2014. “Culinary Capitalism.” Contexts. 13 (3): 88-88.

Meat, Morals, and Masculinity

Little research has contrasted perceptions of omnivores and vegetarians, particularly with respect

to morality and gender characteristics. In two between-subject studies, we investigated people’s

perceptions of others who follow omnivorous and vegetarian diets, controlling for the perceived

healthiness of the diets in question.

Source: Ruby, Matthew B., and Heine, Steven J. 2011. “Meat, Morals, and

Masculinity.” Appetite, 56 (2), 447-450.

mailto:cgrice@dcccd.edu
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DwcVIbqhuPrgeRnXsJD5H1VGqID99s-5
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tf9YAZOUSQs_f3vG5Q6RmFYNvKuhXlRM
https://drive.google.com/open?id=11Pj4hLBIkI31Bi2ADhADG2Uux2TLhwdr
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yR-iRVg5Yg9zYVaV9wyykHxpYsIxzvZv
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KXJxLm89DNYeFCD01_KFLZSfeWvM4N2J