The saying goes that “you are what you eat.” Never is that point driven home more than in the documentary FED UP.
I was anxious to watch this film because, as an almost 54-year old who could stand to lose a few pounds I thought maybe I’d pick up a tip or two on how to eat better. What I got was a lesson in how everything I thought was right was actually wrong! What I’d thought was healthy (fat free, sugar free) was potentially killing me. And you. And pretty much everyone on the planet.
If there is a bad guy in this film it would be our old friend Sugar. Small and sweet, he makes our cereal taste better each morning and our coffee less bitter at night (I should say that’s an assumption since I don’t drink coffee). Did you know that almost every processed food has sugar, or one of its relatives, in it? Not just items you know about: breakfast cereal, pastries…pretty much anything that tastes good has something sweet added to it. But, according to the film, this is necessary to keep the farmers profitable. The government spends billions of dollars each year in subsidies to farmers, especially to corn growers. Corn is the main ingredient in high fructose corn syrup, which is found in over 600,000 items at your local grocery store. It is one of the major causes of obesity because of the way it is distributed through the body. Counting calories is the big trend now, but each calorie is different. The body has a better chance of burning off 150 calories of beef then it does the same calories from Frosted Flakes. Those sugar calories are stored as fat by the body and, no matter how hard you work out, it’s almost impossible to work off the same amount of calories that you take in.
One very disturbing statistic noted was that, in 1980, there were ZERO adolescents in America diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In 2010 there were almost 58,000. On the run eating, helped along by the growing fast food market, is a major cause of this statistic. Several young adults are highlighted in the film and their efforts to battle an almost unbeatable foe are heartbreaking. Even as Michelle Obama pushes for healthy eating and exercise, most of the schools in this country have lucrative deals with the various soft drink companies. My son’s former high school signed a contract with Pepsi in the late 1990s. After a few years, some parents complained about the ready availability of soda pop in the school. Pepsi “righted” the problem by only stocking bottled water and juice. Juice loaded with sugar. An endless cycle that, if not stopped, will overrun us all. What I found curious is that, in spite of her efforts, Michelle Obama refused to be interviewed for this film.
Katie Couric gives a fair and balanced look at how our government considers nutrition. She is aghast when she finds that, because of the presence of tomato sauce, the government considers a slice of pizza to be a vegetable! When she confronts David Allison, the Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, about sugary drinks his answers are frightening. Couric notes that Allison’s group has received research money from both Coke and Pepsi. When she asks if those beverages contribute more calories than other food Allison stumbles through his answer, “Let me get my thoughts together,” he eventually spits out. As far as I know, Couric is still waiting for the answer. So are we all.
FED UP BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: Presented in its original 1:78.1 aspect ratio, the transfer is clear and sharp. Due to the fact that the film contains video highlights from the mid 1960s until today, the quality of the source material should be taken into account.
Audio: Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the narration is loud and clean. Conversations are not muddled. There is also a Spanish track, in the same format, which features the film’s narration in Spanish.
Narration in Spanish
Deleted Scenes (12:46): I’m guessing these (5) scenes were deleted for time because I found all of them informational
