In crowded genre, ‘Food Fight’ stands out

By Julie Brown-Micko


The last 10 years or so have given birth to a new genre of food movie: the big agribusiness documentary. A well-modulated narrator indicts the industrial food complex for its crimes against farming, animals, produce and humanity. Grim visuals of slaughterhouses, feedlots, and massive farm machinery alternate with vintage commercials featuring grinning housewives and gleaming kitchens. Sincere experts (small farmers, authors, food critics, chefs) detail the abuses of agribusiness but offer a sliver of hope that consumers can make a change if they support local, organic, sustainable farmers.

Christopher Taylor’s Food Fight falls firmly in this category. It’s a pretty good representative of its genre: serious, but not depressing. Smart, but not in love with its own cleverness. Historical but still forward looking. A well-muscled cadre of foodie superstars share their wisdom including Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower, Wolfgang Puck and many lesser, but even more interesting, luminaries. And thankfully the ubiquitous 1950’s commercial footage is used as a spice, not a main ingredient.

Food Fight focuses on the so-called food revolution sparked in Berkley by a ragtag group of California agitators in the ’60s and ’70s. While the youth advocated against war and for civil rights and free speech, Alice Waters took note that their food choices did not coincide with their ideals. The military-industrial complex was closely intertwined with big agriculture. Against the war? Then perhaps you should be against the monolithic food industry. Alice Waters began “catering the revolution,” providing simple, fresh, seasonal and local food to the politically active. From this beginning, the move to fresh and organic food began to slowly grow and gain power and become a serious social force for change. As Marion Nestle put it, “Who would have guessed that the taste of vegetables would be the starting point for a revolution?”

It’s really the local growers who infuse the film with life and hope. Will Allen, an urban farmer in Milwaukee, and his daughter Erika (who runs a Chicago branch of their operation, Growing Power) believe everyone deserves access to healthy, fresh food, particularly economically disadvantaged people in big cities with short growing seasons. As Erika points out, it’s not an elitist all-or-nothing effort. They’re just trying to give kids who’ve never tried a tomato a chance to try one. It’s no wonder Will Allen was awarded a MacArthur Fellows “genius grant” in 2008.

Food Fight deftly balances brutal facts with positive changes. The field of big agri-documentaries is crowded, but Taylor’s effort is worth a look.