I can't imagine that too many people will say that watching "Food, Inc." was the visual equivalent of eating chocolate cheesecake, but just like eating your veggies is good for you, so is watching this expose on how our food is produced.
"Food, Inc.," directed by Robert Kenner, screens at UWM's Union Theatre, Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Relying heavily on the work of investigative authors Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") and Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation"), Kenner created a documentary that led Variety to say, "'Food, Inc.' does for the supermarket what 'Jaws' did for the beach."
I'd like to say that's an example of hyperbole, but it's pretty much right on the money.
Interviews with farmers who have been bullied by lawsuits from giant corporations that prevent them from saving seeds from their crops -- if they do, they're driven into the ground by legal fees and blacklisting -- will get your blood boiling.
But getting a look inside the world of meat-packing and poultry raising will turn your stomach.
Kenner -- along with Schlosser and Pollan -- shows us how our food is now produced by an ever-smaller handful of large corporations that, in the interest of saving a penny here and a nickel there, have created animals and crops that are not only freaks of nature but that have helped spawn widespread obesity, epidemic levels of diabetes, new strains of e-coli and other evils.
Luckily, there is hope. Segments showing that Wal-Mart is becoming a major purchaser in the world of organics shows that consumers can change the way things are done, just by choosing certain products over others.
"Actually, it's a pretty easy decision to try to support things like organics or whatever it might be based on what the consumer wants," says Tony Airosa, Wal-Mart's chief dairy purchaser, in the the film. "We see that and we react to it. If it's clear that the customer wants it, it's really easy to get behind it and to push forward and try to make that happen."
The evidence -- good and bad -- is served up over the course of a 93-minute feast of food-borne fear that will have you squirming in your seat.
You won't likely leave the theater thinking about the great entertainment you just experienced, but you will think twice about the food you eat and where it comes from.
And, like eating organically grown carrots, you'll be nourished by the experience.
Also coming soon to the UWM Theatre:
"Still Walking" screens Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, this 114-minute picture -- in Japanese with English subtitles -- is the story of 40-year-old Ryota, who brother Junpei died 15 years ago while rescuing a drowing boy. Ryota is headed home with his wife -- a widow -- and her 10-year-old son, to visit his family, which is gathering to remember Junpei. An art restorer, Ryota is trying to hide the fact that he's unemployed. Add in the bagage that he has an uncomfortable relationship with his father and he hasn't been able to emerge from his brother's looming shadow. This makes for a long visit filled not only with reminiscing but also bickering, humor and sorrow.
"In the past five or six years I lost both my parents," the director writes in a statement. "As an ungrateful eldest son who used the demands of his profession to excuse my long absences from home, I find myself troubled by regrets to this day. 'Still Walking' is a film launched by the experience of the regret that we all share."
"Still Walking" screens at 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $6; $5 for UWM faculty, staff, Alumni Association members and non-UWM students; and $4 for UWM students.
On the same days you can see Argentinian film, "The Headless Woman," at 7 p.m. Admission prices are the same as for "Still Walking."
In Lucrecia Martel's 87-minute Spanish-language film -- her third feature -- successful middle-aged dentist Vero (Maria Onetto) runs something over on a dirt road while driving alone. She starts to fear that she's killed someone and it affects her life deeply. The police say that no accidents were reported in the area where she was driving, her life begins to return to normal ... until a gruesome discovery is made.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
