I remember where I was as an obese person when I decided to change my eating habits. When I was in grad school, I worked for a student planner company that made agenda books for elementary, junior high, and high school. One of my jobs was to edit the content during the production process. One portion of the written content were healthy eating habits facts and statistics for children and students. It was through out the planner for kids to read the whole school year. As an adult, I still had a lot to learn. The re-enforcement of re-reading the information several times changed my eating habits overtime. With an unsustainable weight gain, I didn’t have a choice. I would face the consequences of those choices one way or the other.
Audiences will have an opportunity to confront those issues of eating habits with the insightful and engaging food documentary Fed Up opening this month (and hopefully expanding to more theaters during the summer). It was just as eye opening for me especially to someone who has altered their food diet for the better for the last few years. Katie Couric narrates the easy to understand and easier to be upset documentary. Laurie David an Oscar winning producer for An Inconvenient Truth is involved. Concerned mothers may discover this movie on Netflix, but there should be a sense of urgency to see Fed Up now (!) in theaters and to respond now! It is that vital of an issue!
Synopsis: For the past 30 years, everything we thought we knew about food and exercise is dead wrong. FED UP is the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever. (C) Official Site
A lot of statistics and facts are mentioned Fed Up. Personal stories from children all around the country are shared. Yet, people can’t lose weight. What gives? Added sugar in processed foods is to blame! (In criticizing the Biggest Loser, “Now our epidemic is entertainment on network television.”) The documentary discusses 1950’s French physician Jean Mayer who determined exercise was a factor in losing weight. Yet, from 1980 to 2000 fitness membership doubled and so did obesity. The food industry is the root problem. And our government, which serves industry and the wealthy, has been complicit. Fed Up points to the fact that Coca Cola contributes to obesity research and those conclusions favored them. Did you know that Nutrition Facts labels doesnt feature a percentage recommendation for sugar. Fed Up points out the hypocricy from the federal government. Something like the USDA will regulate our food yet the lobbying to subsidize the bad, processed food continues.
What made Fed Up terrific and a must see movie was how it presents its subject matters from Michele Obama to oridinary families trying to eat healthy as unknowing pawns caught in the deceptive system. That is how entrenched society is with this issue. The food industry volunteered to help Michele Obama as long as they had it their way. They pushed the agenda that calories in and out with the exercise solves health problems. they made a commitment to “Pull calories out the market place” which ended up averaging 14 calories a day! And the subject matter interviewed themselves seemed to be duped by the food industry (an example that came to mind was when a mom feeds her child Lean Pockets instead of Hot Pockets).
Bad government policies have affected generational changes in diet and people need to lobby for change. Fed Up cites the 1977 McGovern Report which was expert testimony that predicted obesity would be the number one form of malnutrition decades later. Food industry lobbied and they encouraged purchase of l980’s lead to this and re-engineered food. Diseases increase with a higher sugar intake. And it is everywhere. The documentary states that 6,000 food items are typically in a grocery store and 80% have added sugar.
Millennials have grown up surrounded by and addicted to sugar. Kids wont eat healthy fresh foods especially since they crave sugar. This is why the Congressional GOP are fighting the Obama School lunch problem. The schools throw out the food the kids don’t like and it costs more money. But that battle misses the point. Fed Up goes beyond the headlines to reveal real problems! It makes sense that the Food industry is acting like tobacco companies 30 to 40 years ago secretly hiding the truth to prote profits. For people who try to quit, this sugar withdrawal for those who try to quit are real and chemical. In an era of controlling costs, health care expenses will increase as obesity becomes a problem!
Finally, the Nanny state complaints that accompany debated regulation was an interesting aspect to Fed Up. I had my own take on this issue not related to the movie. Those concerns come from the political ideology that wants the restriction of lifestyle sins (gay marriage) to be enforced in society. Gluttony is a sin in the Bible. Sin management inspires government regulation for conservatives, yet the faithful don’t shame obesity like homosexuality. Fed Up asks what the country would look like if celebrities endorsed vegetables in commercials, but I’d wonder what if American evangelicals were immobilized against gluttony like gay marriage. Just a what if scenario from a Christian perspective.
Regardless of your political leanings, Fed Up is important documentary for everyone to taste and digest. Your life depends on it.
I rate Fed Up an 8 out of 10.
