MovieChat Forums > Food Matters (2008) Discussion > I'm vegetarian but didn't care for this ...

I'm vegetarian but didn't care for this movie

posted 13 years ago by lumbaka
5 replies | jump to latest

Came across as too sensationalist, like we are all gonna die any day because of big Agribusiness. Certainly there are problems, but I don't think Agribusiness wants to kill off its customers.

I stopped shortly after the guy starting going on about multivitamins and said things like only 10 people had died from taking multivitamins. And it wasn't proven those 10 really died from multivitamins. That just didn't come across as scientific, or him saying he's never seen evidence of it.

I've enjoyed Pollan's books, and watching Food Inc.

[–] mmortal03 13 years ago

Yeah, the first thought I had after he said that only 10 people had reportedly died from vitamin overdoses was that this movie was going to cause an increase in that statistic. Fat soluable vitamins, for example, are proven to be harmful over a certain range, so megadoses of those will definitely harm or kill people if they try it.

[–] lenlarga 13 years ago

I have a different criticism of the vitamin aspect of the movie.

The movie seemed to send mixed messages:

1) Eat vitamin-rich food
2) And, oh, by the way, vitamin supplements are good too.

It is never explained why one would need to take vitamin supplements while eating a nutrient rich diet.

Besides the vitamin-contradiction, though, I thought the movie was very well done.

[–] carl-528 12 years ago

Anything in excess is likely to kill you. Even water can kill and I don't mean by drowning.

I don't think the movie was in the least bit sensationalist, but like the movie 'forks over knives' I think the point that most human beings don't consume enough healthy food to allow the body to look after itself came across pretty clearly and that most doctors and most people would rather prescribe pills and continue eating unhealthy food rather than address the real effects of a poor diet on our health.

Most pill taking only targets the symptoms, like taking a pain killer if you have a head ache, but a pain killer isn't going to cure a brain tumour.

I also agreed wholeheartedy with taking control of our own health. I never trust my doctors opinions. The last doctor mistook a lump in my eye for a insect bite whereas my own research led me to discover that I had a chalazion, probably caused by a mix of cold damp climate cycling to work every day and poor diet. I treated it myself based on my own research and common sense.

I am not so critical of a doctor's misinterpretation of a symptom, but I do doubt human beings and doctors are only human and often under a lot of stress. Advizing to take a pill is an answer a lot of people like to hear.

[–] laura-827 12 years ago

I'm a food activist, and I didn't care for this film, either. I agree that it came across as too sensationalist. I don't mind strong messages, but I prefer they come from scientists who publish peer-reviewed research, not people who make a living promoting nutrition or fitness programs, no matter what initials appear after their names.

[–] bruce-129 9 years ago

LOL, I caught it earlier when that Gerson lady said there were 52 nutrients that plants need.
Scientists can only identify 18. It's not like they would not know about this.
This is a psychological tactic to unnerve the neurotic uneducated people in the audience and
sell them expensive stuff they do not need based on scare tactics. I agree, I don't like this
documentary.

Food Inc. was great,
Forks Over Knives is pretty good.
There are some others as well.