Is Food Inc. okay for kids?

[oceanbaby]

Dh and I were going to watch this, and I was thinking about having the kids watch it with us - they are 8.5 and 5.5. Is it too scary?

[oceanbaby]

Never mind - dh and I watched it last night, and it's definitely too intense for my kids.

[Susana]

ocean baby...how did you like it? I told my husband I want to watch this, but I admit I am afraid. We already buy our meat, dairy and eggs from local farms where the animals are treated with respect and love, but I want to know more about the food industry. What did you think of the movie?

[onthemove]

I was wondering the same thing about letting my dd's watch it...but I think we will pass on letting the kids watch and watch it while they are in bed.

[AuntNi]

I tried watching this with my almost-8-yo DD yesterday, and she started crying when they showed the inside of the chicken house. We had to shut it off, and she cried, "But Mama, what can we DO about it?" She actually just ran outside to mail her letter to President Obama about food safety/animal cruelty.

DH and I finished watching it last night, and it was just appalling. It took me longer to cry - the part where the little girl begged for some pears in the supermarket, while their mom said they could only afford Burger King.

So I think we're going to stick with Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" series instead. DD really enjoyed the preview we watched on Hulu.

[onthemove]

the food revolution series looks like it will be good, it certainly has people talking, yes I think I will be watching that with my kids rather than Food Inc. my kids are old enough and very aware about living a healthy lifestyle and the effects and consequences of an unhealthy one but I don't think we need to put such bold images in their little heads. they are not the ones who need the awakening.

[koofie]

I watched it, and then let my seven year old watch it. She really enjoyed it, and we stopped it a few times to talk about what was going on, because a lot of it went over her head.

[Smokering]

I actually didn't think it was as shocking as it could have been. I've seen photos of WAY worse battery farming conditions than they showed in the henhouse. It wasn't luxurious, but it could have been worse - DD, who's two, said "Chickens!" with delight and didn't seem to think anything was amiss.

The movie is pretty lame compared to The Omnivore's Dilemma, IME. It referenced a lot of the same facts and people, and while it was cool to see Joel Salatin in "real life" and see the visuals of his farm, I felt a bit been-there-done-that the whole way through the movie. And the way it was structured, in "chapters" that weren't very connected, made it seem really piecey and a bit ranty. Like "Oh yeah, you're supposed to be mad about this as well!" It crammed a lot of stuff in - Monsanto, meat processing plants, corn and so on - without going into any subject in enough depth to satisfy me. It hinted at government conspiracies and then rapidly moved on... stuff like that.

So if you haven't read any of the other eco-foodie literature it might be an OK intro (although a friend of mine hasn't, and even she thought it was sketchy and underplayed the animal cruelty issue).... but if you're already familiar with some of the books, the film is a waste of time, I think.

It didn't upset DD, but she's a bit young to get upset. Try to look up some clips from the film on YouTube to see if you can gauge the gore/upset factor for your kiddies.

[iamme]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

Dh and I were going to watch this, and I was thinking about having the kids watch it with us - they are 8.5 and 5.5. Is it too scary?

I'm so glad you previewed it! Our dc are very bright dc, and they were sobbing and had nightmares-and they only watched about 1/2 of the documentary.My dc are 13 and 8.5.

Originally Posted by onthemove

they are not the ones who need the awakening.

You know, I agree with you and I think I hear you. But....I have this nagging voice in me to educate my dc about the realities of the food industry. My dd has read CHEW ON THIS, and now resfuses to eat at a fast food restaurant. I suppose I feel like the NEXT generation is SOOO critical to cement changes, and adults who have power right now are so desensitized, that they are unable or unwilling to grasp reality.

Our dc ARE our hope and future.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

i didn't think it was too bad, but my ds who's 3 doesn't like documentaries too much. But i did just watch Earthlings and OMG, i was thinking it would be like food inc, which i didn't think was too gory to watch with ds nearby, but i had to stop watching Earthlings b/c i didn't want ds to see how aweful things really are. That being said, I really want to watch it again as i think the message needs to be set in stone, but just an fyi, don't let your kids watch earthlings, i would say unless they are at least 16.

[phathui5]

I think my older kids would be fine with it.