This This ninety-four minute documentary, Food Inc., seeks to address the problems with the food and consumer industry in America and the inhumane actions taken to handle animals on farms and less than favorable working conditions. Robert Kenner, the producer and director, uses reports from Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's to further back up his claim. This documentary clearly focuses on convincing viewers to buy naturally or organically grown food by attacking food that is in the regular grocery store and telling viewers where it really comes from. It also focuses on making consumers aware of where their food actually comes from and lets them know that they can take steps to make proper food choices. He makes readers question the future of their health and processed foods. He does not only focus on the health issues of the food industry but also how corporations exploit laws to create powerful monopolies.
Ro Robert Kenner uses multiple rhetorical devices to get his point across to his viewers. To start, he appeals to all three ethos, pathos, and logos. He appeals to ethos by narrating and giving the reader a sense of trust and intelligence. He also interviews first hand sources, such as the farmers, who can testify how the animals are really kept and treated. This allows Robert Kenner to facilitate confidence in his readers and makes them believe what he is saying. Through the first hand stories, he appeals to the readers pathos. For example, he describes a story of a lower class family who cannot afford to eat anything else other than fast food. The mother describes how they do not have time to cook home made meals and the only thing the can resort to is food on the go. He also follows them to the grocery store where she explains the fresh fruit is too expensive to buy. When the viewer sees this story their heart breaks because it is hard to imagine that someone cannot afford something so simple as fresh fruit. Lastly, he appeals to logos by citing many hard facts like "the average American eats two hundred pounds of meat per year". These facts make his argument more believable and credible. Viewers see facts as more credible than opinions so the numerous facts in this documentary make his argument more logical.
R Robert Kenner also uses imagery to get the readers to understand his purpose. These shocking images, like the chickens being crammed in their coup or the cows carcass's lined up, stick in the readers minds. It is hard to forget something so shocking and powerful. I got disgusted when seeing these pictures and they stuck in my mind throughout the whole movie and resonated even in the end. These eye-opening pictures allow Robert Kenner to further prove his point because he is now not only speaking it but is proving it with the images.
IUI
Rob
D
Ma
