“What better way to get the word out on a film about our food system than with a message aimed at food shoppers?” said Stonyfield president and CEO, Gary Hirshberg. The film is from Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment. The same partners produced Al Gore’s Oscar-winning film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth.
“Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield’s commitment to the success of this film has been inspiring,” said Magnolia president, Eamonn Bowles. “It’s exciting that a respected brand like this has come on in such a big way.”
Buffy Shutt, Participant’s co-executive vice president of marketing, said: “Stonyfield has been a sensational partner for all of us working on Food Inc. Not only has Gary been a fantastic spokesperson for the film – knowledgeable, articulate and expert in presenting the issues in a way that’s accessible to everyday consumers – but how many documentaries have the benefit of an organic national tie-in like this?”
Stonyfield’s website features a Food Inc link with a downloadable trailer, an exclusive interview with director Robert Kenner, and downloadable coupons for free products from Stonyfield and other organic partners such as Annie’s, Late July, Newman’s Own Organics and Organic Valley.
In Food Inc, filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on the nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanised underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer, with the consent of the government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. The nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and the environment.
The film features interviews with Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward-thinking social entrepreneurs such as Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin.
Hirshberg’s message in Food Inc is ultimately one of optimism coupled with a call to action: “We all have choices when it comes to what we buy, and that means we have the power of our purchases,” said Hirshberg. “The grocery checkout is much like a voting booth, where we can vote for organic or not, pesticides or not, artificial flavours or not.”
Hirshberg points to consumers’ rejection of milk from cows treated with artificial bovine growth hormone as an example of that consumer power. “Retailers and processors are now selling or using rBST-free milk as a result of what their customers are demanding. Positive change is possible, when enough of us demand it.”
The video below was taken from YouTube …
Source: Stonyfield Farm
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