Fed Up: “The Film The Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to See”
Ok, so I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about food. Netflix is full of them. Food Inc, Forks Over Knives, Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead… so I almost skipped over this one. At some point, it’s just sort of the same old thing. But since I was battling a cold and we didn’t have much else to do, we decided to give Fed Up a shot. I’m glad we did.
I’ll caveat this by saying yes it’s a little extreme. That’s kind of the point of these things, right? It points out a few things you probably already know, like that our food system is broken, the government is in it for money, not our best interests, and there is sugar in everything. And I know that no system is perfect… and I know you’ll never be able to take the money out of it entirely… and I know that (some) sugar won’t kill you, but I think this documentary does a good job of opening your eyes to the magnitude of these problems. It’s crazy to think about how much money we’re spending , as a country, on healthcare related to obesity. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the movie:
“If a foreign nation was causing our children to become obese, that’s going to affect their health and hurt their happiness, cause them to be depressed, have poor self-esteem—if a foreign nation were doing that to our children, we’d probably go to war. We would defend our families. So why do we accept this from our own country?” Dr. Harvey Karp
I know that there are tons of factors at play here. I know that we can’t necessarily just point fingers at the food manufacturers and blame the FDA for everything. But you know what? We live in a place where it’s really hard to eat healthy. Between the convenience and low cost of fast food, to the absolutely endless amounts of food advertising, to the food marketing that is trying to make you think something is better than it is… it takes a lot of work to sort through it all.
I went to the grocery store on Saturday and decided to try to cut down on the amount of added sugar we consume. There was added sugar in everything. Salsas, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, mandarin oranges… it took me almost an hour to make it through the store because I was reading the ingredients of everything. While a little sugar here and there isn’t the worst thing in the world, I don’t think I need it in everything.
So Alex and I are taking a little break from added sugars for now. (I’m giving up stevia as well!) It was harder than I thought it would be just to stock up the pantry, but now that we’ve got a house full of healthy ingredients, I think we can do it! I’ve never really given sugar much thought, so it should be an interesting little experiment.
While I’m at it, I picked up a few new books from the library:
Have you read any of these? I’ll let you know what I think once I’m finished!
Ok, stepping off the soapbox for now. I would love to hear what you think!
Looking for more food documentaries? Check out my complete list of the best food documentaries on Netflix!
What a great post. I’ve been reading your blog for a while, but this is my first comment. I’m “addicted” to Stevia, and am interested in why you’re giving that up too?
I have to watch this documentary, I really enjoyed Forks over Knives, it was so informative. Haven’t read any of the books, but I look forward to hearing about what you think of them!
Again – thanks for your amazing blog, sorry I haven’t left any comments before. I’m curious to hear more about your thoughts on Stevia. Thanks!
Caroline
Aw, thanks so much, Caroline! Honestly, I think stevia is probably fine, but I knew if I gave myself stevia as an option, then I probably wouldn’t really be cutting back on much sweets! That’ll likely be the first thing I add in, but I thought removing it completely might help me “reset” my sugar cravings. We’ll see!
I saw this film when it was first released at the movie theater. It is by far one of my favorites right up there with Forks over Knives! But if you are going to give up sugar you need to get the book I Quit Sugar! It is informative, has an 8 week no sugar detox. But my favorite part of the book is all of the recipes. You can follow the author on Instagram and she has a website with additional info and a more detailed no sugar plan even for vegetarians. Check it out! You’ll love it!
I literally just ordered it on Amazon! I can’t wait for it to arrive! Thanks for the recommendation, Meghan!
I started the Whole30 yesterday and had no idea how many of my ‘healthy’ products carried added sugar. I was walking around Costco and Kroger in disbelief. I knew that a lot of packaged foods included extra sugar but I have never looked as closely as I did yesterday. I know a lot of my family members think I’m extreme for looking at labels but, especially now that we have Charlotte, I’m concerned about what we’re all putting in our bodies. Here I was thinking we did a wonderful job at keeping the junk out of the house when so many extra ingredients were hiding in my pantry. Eek! Going to watch Fed Up tonight or tomorrow!
Yes! I’m the same way! I thought I knew what was in everything I was eating, but clearly I didn’t! It’s definitely an eye opening experience. Good luck on the Whole30!
I love that you’re drawing attention to this subject because it is one of the biggest problems our nation faces, in my opinion. Our costly healthcare is HUGELY related to the standard American diet. From processed foods, fast food, soda, added sugars, and factory farmed meat to GMOs, there are so many aspects that are broken. Thankfully I think more Americans are becoming aware of it and trying to make a change. Now if only the government would regulate our food system better (and eliminate inhumane/unhealthy factory farming!) and offer incentives for healthy eating and living, it would make it that much easier for all Americans, rich and poor, to make healthier choices.
Clearly I have a lot to say on this, ha! 🙂
YES! Honestly, these documentaries get me so fired up, haha. Even just reading Michael Pollan’s books make me want to change the food world! 😉
I’m curious to know what your grocery haul ended up being!
I’ll have to do a whole post on it! It was definitely different than our normal grocery run!
Love this post!! I just watched this documentary the other week ago. It really hit home for me as I live near Easley, SC where one of the boys is from. I think it drives home the point that we are getting so much added sugar in all of our processed foods without even knowing it’s in there! Great recap!
I agree. I think one of the saddest things is the amount of food given to you when eating out. I think it would be great if they all offered 1/2 portions too. People eat it so not to waste it. The portion size of food has almost doubled. So sad.
I’ve heard a lot of great things about Fed Up. I walk a fine line between wanting to watch it and wanting to live in my “ignorance is bliss” state : )
I haven’t watched this yet, but I have been meaning too. Ever since starting the Whole 30 and reading that book (It Starts With Food) I have become so aware of the added sugars and they really are in EVERYTHING (lots of meat products as well). We have been doing really well a making our own sauces (mayo, ketchup, bbq sauce, etc.) so that we can avoid the seriously unnecessarily added sugars.
I’ll have to check out that documentary! I’ve watched all the others you mentioned and they’re huge eye-openers. It also makes me want to throw out everything in my kitchen and start over!