Robert Kenner In Japan

Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner visited Japan in May, 2012 to talk about agrobusiness and the problems of genetically modified organisms (GMO). He visited Japanese organic farmer Uozumi-san in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, who has developed his crops since 1974 with natural methods, connecting mountain forests, farm and the ocean. Consumers Union of Japan and the Japan Citizens' Network for Sustainable Food and Agriculture organized the trip.



From an interview with The Ecologist:

LS: What was the most shocking aspect of making the film?

RK: There were two things. One was early on when we went to a hearing about whether to label cloned meat. A representative from the meat industry said it would be 'too confusing for the consumer'. I realised I had entered an Orwellian world where people are being 'protected' by not being told.

Then when I asked food safety advocate Barbara Kowalcyck what food she eats and she couldn't answer me or she'd be sued. I realised it was not a film about food: it was a film about rights. Seeing how food products now have more rights than individuals - that was more frightening than seeing how the food was produced.

LS: In the film there is a focus on the food system in the US - does the situation apply to the rest of the world?

RK: This is not a film about the US. I thought of filming in other countries and you could have been told the exact same story. It might have started in the US, but it is spreading. It's starting to happen here and it happens in Asia.

The Ecologist: Robert Kenner: Big Food will do everything to stop you talking about this

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