Aaron Manton

Food Inc.
2008
Directed by Robert Kenner
Hungry for change? Ever wonder how many chickens can fit onto your TV screen at once? Food Inc. debunks the longstanding image of the pastoral family farmer, burning into our minds and consciences pictures of loud, dirty, and overcrowded ‘Controlled Animal Feeding Operations’ – or to the layman, factory farms. Food Inc. shows us why our food has really gotten ‘bigger,’ ‘better looking,’ and ‘more abundant,’ and the political and economic forces working to keep it that way.

The World According to Monsanto
2008
Directed by Marie-Monique Robin
Based on the French Rachel Carson Award winning book of the same title, The World According to Monsanto explores the controversial use of genetically modified seeds and bovine growth hormone in food industries around the world. Spanning three years and four continents, this film explores the damage of the industry to farmers, communities, and ecosystems, and how Monsanto’s almost Orwellian control tactics and manipulation of data maintain their control of global agriculture.

Fast Food Nation
2006
Directed by Richard Linklater
Fiction
With enough blood to constitute a horror film, and enough Avril Lavigne to prove how things can be so complicated, Fast Food Nation provides a horrifying look at the devastating effects of factory farming and corporate agriculture for people, animals, and landscapes. Centred around the town of Cody, Colorado, the film revolves around three storylines: a corporate marketing head investigating the fecal matter content of his fast food chain’s newest burger, a suburban teen fast food worker anxious to stick it to the man, and a family of migrant workers enduring exploitation in a gut-churning meat processing plant. Celebrity cameos aplenty.

End of the Line
2009
Directed by Rupert Murray
An expository look at the devastating effect of overfishing our oceans, End of the Line asks us to imagine an ocean without fish and meals without seafood. If the immanent extinction of bluefin tuna doesn’t make you question your next sushi craving, then the thought of wading through jellyfish due to the species’ overpopulation next time you are at the beach will surely change the tides of human demands on the ocean.

Good Burger
1997
Directed by Brian Robbins
Fiction
Finally, an answer to that timeless thought experiment of what would happen if you got into a car accident with Sinbad. Good Burger introduces us to the rarely seen cutthroat nature of fast food industry summer jobs, where if you discover the competition’s secret food additives, you may find your burger laced with shark poison!

Bananas!*
2009
Directed by Fredrik Gertten
Bananas!* documents a legal battle between a group of 12 Nicaraguan banana plantation workers and the Dole fruit company over the use of pesticides known to cause sterility. Still don’t have your fill? Check out Gertten’s 2011 follow-up, Big Boys Gone Bananas!*, documenting Dole’s subsequent law suit against the filmmakers.

Forks Over Knives
2011
Directed by Lee Fulkerson
In the antithesis to Super Size Me, we witness the filmmaker switch to a plant-based diet, trying to prove the claim that most of the degenerative diseases that afflict Westerners today can be controlled or reversed by rejecting an animal and processed food based diet. Fulkerson builds his narrative on top of a 20-year study linking coronary disease, diabetes, and cancer to the Western diet. Two Thumbs Up! – even Roger Ebert changed his eating habits after watching this film.