Indiana Pork Producers have been notifying their members that people from Robert Kenner Films are contacting farms asking for interviews. No matter how nice the person on the other end of the line sounds, make no mistake, Robert Kenner Films is not friendly to agriculture. His well-known documentary, Food, Inc., has been proven to grossly misrepresent animal agriculture — and agriculture in general.
Many of you may already be familiar with the documentary, Food, Inc., but if you are not, it was a 2009 movie about large modern farms in the United States. The movie portrayed agriculture in a negative light, so much so that according to Wikipedia, “Kenner claims that he spent large amounts of his budget on legal fees to try to protect himself against lawsuits …” Unfortunately, Food, Inc. received national attention after it was entered in numerous film competitions across the country. It was even nominated for an Oscar. What this means is that this documentary has done a great deal of damage to agriculture and helped create the culture in urban America of distrusting and disparaging farmers and ranchers.
Food, Inc. was promoted by HSUS and criticized by agriculture industry
When Food, Inc. first made rounds in theaters in 2009, Jennifer Fearing, a lobbyist for the Humane Society of the United States, set up a screening for California lawmakers in Sacramento. She then published an article about it in the online outlet, Civil Eats. Her article gave glowing praise of the movie and included statements like, “… HSUS urges everyone to see it. Its fundamental aim is to expose the rampant abuse of power that has resulted in an inefficient, polluting, degrading, cruel, and unhealthy food system in America.” Clearly, Robert Kenner Films and the producers of Food, Inc. are no friends to agriculture.
What to do
The Indiana Farm Bureau is discouraging its members from answering any questions or engaging with Robert Kenner or people from his production studio should they call or stop by. They are encouraging their members to contact Indiana Farm Bureau’s Senior PR Manager, Molly Zentz. For those of you outside of Indiana, Protect the Harvest recommends talking with your local agriculture organizations and coming up with a game plan so you are prepared. There are a number of other resources that provide advice for dealing with this type of thing. Learn more here and here.
Food, Inc. discussed on NPR
The Center for Consumer Freedom reported about an interview conducted on National Public Radio about the documentary. The NPR host said, “Silenced farmers may be the most frustrated over the Food, Inc. phenomenon.”
Here’s what one farmer had to say about the movie on NPR: Food, Inc. “is a direct slap in the face to every farmer and ranch family in this country that has been involved — dedicated — to finding a way to produce sustainable, reasonably priced, safe food. … Farmers are starting to realize that there is a concerted effort to mislead the public about what’s happening in American agriculture.”
Don’t let your farm be caught in the middle the crossheirs, have a plan and connect with local law enforcement before it is too late.
