10 Best Documentaries About the Food Industry

There was a time when documentaries were seen as boring. But in the past two decades, documentaries have undergone a revolution. They’re no longer dry, lecture-like educational videos. Instead, they are gripping, eye-opening, and sometimes harrowing glimpses into the real world. And when it comes to the food industry, some documentaries offer truths that are often hard to process.

From the startling prevalence of harmful additives to the industry’s focus on introducing sugar into the diet, food-focused documentaries are pulling back the curtain on a system that has been long broken. These films are as entertaining as they are vital sources of information every consumer should be aware of. In this list, we mention 10 of the most hard-hitting documentaries about food. They’re so raw and honest and unsavory, that you may never look at your plate the same way again.

10

‘Sugar Coated’ (2015)

Sugar Coated is an eye-opening documentary that takes a deep dive into the history and tactics of the sugar industry and how they put sophisticated efforts to conceal the health risk of their product, ultimately marketing it as a harmless, non-toxic indulgence. From the secret PR campaign dating back to the 1970s to the current multi-billion-dollar empire, the film exposes the many ways in which the sugar industry sweetened its reputation and our food.

The Truth About Sugar is Anything But Sweet

A gut-punch in the form of a documentary, Sugar Coated will forever change the way you look at a bag of sugar. Through meticulous research and real-life statistics about increases in obesity, diabetes, and heart disease rates, it reveals the truth about an industry that’s willing to sacrifice public health just for the sake of profits.

9

‘Fed Up’ (2014)

Written, directed, and produced by Stephanie Soechtig, with Katie Couric co-producing and narrating, Fed Up is a documentary that offers a shocking look at how problematic the first dietary guidelines issued by the U.S. government 30 years ago were, because they led to an obesity epidemic in the nation. The unhealthy and insatiable appetite for sugar has made children and teenagers prone to diabetes and the documentary explores how the food supply is impacting an entire generation.

An Important and Honest Food Documentary

Fed Up is an honest film about the food industry and its reckless disregard for public health. It features interviews from former President Bill Clinton, author Michael Pollan, and Senator Tom Harkin, as well as several authorized medical researchers, and it reveals how the industry has doubled the amount of sugar it adds to products available at convenience stores and expertly hid the percentage and how it is children battling the consequences.

8

‘Our Daily Bread’ (2005)

Haunting and graphic, Our Daily Bread offers a stark look at the industrial food production system. With technology taking over the production, both farms and slaughterhouses employ unsavory methods to get food to the plates, and the documentary, without a single word of narration, captures it all in the most realistic ways possible.

A Visual Feast of Discomfort

Nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece, and lauded by critics as a “matter-of-fact, nearly wordless documentary,” Our Daily Bread takes a more powerful approach by letting the images speak for themselves. With its hypnotic camerawork, it pulls viewers into the dehumanizing, assembly-line nature of food production and makes sure they never look at food the same way again.

7

‘That Sugar Film’ (2014)

Have you ever wondered how much sugar lurks in your supposedly “healthy” foods? Filmmaker Damon Gameau did. Told from a personal and experimental perspective, That Sugar Film follows Gameau as he embarks on a 60-day diet consisting of foods marketed as healthy and low-sugar. The result is, he gains 19 pounds and a few inches on his waist, and he develops a fatty liver disease.

Fun and Inventive Exposé

That Sugar Film is one of the rare documentaries that focuses on an individual’s own experiences with consuming sugar. It makes the mundane more riveting. Gameau, who had been on a conscious diet devoid of any sugar for four years now, undergoes the kind of transformation that’s worth watching. Overall, his journey is both entertaining and unnerving.

6

‘Hungry for Change’ (2012)

Going on endless diets, gorging on fad foods, and falling for weight-loss schemes has done nothing to reduce the rate of obesity, and Hungry For Change reveals why. The answer isn’t pretty, but it is eye-opening. It sheds light on how the food industry and big corporations make sure the products are addictive enough to attack your insecurities and get you to come back for more by keeping the weight on.

A Food Revolution Is Necessary

In addition to giving you the truth about the food industry, Hungry For Change also offers a roadmap to reclaim your health, one whole, unprocessed food at a time. Directors James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch seamlessly combine expert interviews, real-world success stories, and striking visuals to create a documentary that’s entertaining and enlightening in equal measure.

5

‘GMO OMG’ (2013)

We’ve heard the acronym GMO thrown around, but what do we really know about genetically modified organisms? The answer is, not much. That’s exactly where GMO OMG comes in. The documentary focuses on Monsanto, a multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation, the truth about the mysterious organisms used in food production, and their effect on the entire food system.

One Family’s Search for Answers

GMO OMG garnered some controversy and passionate reviews from critics, most of whom described the film as “aggressively uninformed” and called Jeremy Seifert out for his mistrust towards science and scientific terms. Regardless, the documentary makes the complex notion of genetic engineering accessible to all and sparks discussion about the products being sold at local grocery stores.

4

‘Food, Inc.’ (2008)

Another no-holds-barred documentary about America’s industrial food system, Food, Inc. takes viewers on an elaborate and guided tour across the factory farms, processing plants, and corporate boardrooms, where all the food is born, right to the chain restaurants and supermarkets, where it’s sold and bought from.

A Sobering Truth

Robert Kenner’s important documentary film was released in 2009, and it’s just as true as ever. It makes multiple revelations about the misdeeds of the food industry – from the frightening lack of oversight and transparency to the supply of cheap, inadequately safety-tested food. Kenner’s direction and storytelling turns what could have been a dry lecture into a gripping, can’t-look-away experience.

3

‘King Corn’ (2007)

What if you find out that the humble corn kernel is at the heart of almost everything you eat, AND it’s the cause of America’s biggest health crisis? In King Corn, college friends Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis move to Iowa and farm an acre of corn with the sole purpose of examining and exposing the tangled web of government subsidies, industrial processing, and corporate influence that has transformed the grain into a food villain.

Deceptively Clever and Must-Watch

King Corn is a captivating documentary that shows how a single crop has come to dominate our entire food landscape. Through Cheney and Ellis’ engaging approach. The film becomes an intriguing story that turns the camera towards the titans of the agricultural businesses as well as the trail of processed food they approve of manufacturing. Critics call it a “required viewing by anyone planning to visit a supermarket, fast-food joint, or their own refrigerator.”

2

‘Forks Over Knives’ (2011)

Veganism, or plant-based diet, is more common, widespread, and acceptable now that it was back in 2011, when Forks Over Knives was released. The documentary says the key to reversing the global health crisis is as simple as putting down a cheeseburger and picking up a fork. It challenges everything people collectively know about health and diseases, and advocates whole foods over animal products and ultra-processed foods.

An Epiphany That’ll Make You Rethink Everything

Forks Over Knives was a game-changer of a documentary, and it’s probably what led several people to give up on meat altogether. Or at least consider reducing the consumption of animal-based foods. It’s an evidence-based case that not only dismantles the notion that meat and dairy are essential for nutrition and graphically exposes the food industry but also provides a solution to health woes by advocating forkfuls of greens.

1

‘Super Size Me’ (2004)

It’s said that Forks Over Knives was created as the “reverse” of Super Size Me, where the film’s director “goes on this diet and gets better, instead of getting fatter and sicker,” and if you watch the latter, you will see why. The documentary sees filmmaker Morgan Spurlock choosing the most extreme way of finding out if fast food is really healthy by eating nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days straight.

Tells You What You Already Know

McDonald’s discontinued its Super Size option six weeks after the Super Size Me premiered and that’s proof enough of how powerful a punch the documentary packs. Watching Spurlock subject his body to an onslaught of salt, sugar, and grease just to make sure audiences see the results is both shocking and wildly entertaining. But at the same time, it changes the way we think about fast food and reminds us of its very real consequences on health.