If Laughter is Healthy ?: 8 Documentaries That Will Change the Way You Look at Food

Normally when you go to the movies, you find yourself craving popcorn covered in a gooey glaze of artificial butter and boxes of overpriced candy. These films, however, might just have the opposite effect: you might not want to eat at all after seeing them. In the past five years or so, several documentaries have come out that have the power to change the way we think about food, challenging us to question the methods used to produce the food we eat and factors behind the country's rising obesity. Take a look at these eight documentaries and prepare to see your dinner in a whole new light.

Super Size Me
You probably won't want to visit a drive-thru for a while after watching independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's disgusting experiment. For 30 days, he only ate at fast-food giant McDonald's for every meal and didn't allow himself any outside food. By the end of the experiment, he had gained almost 25 pounds, experienced depression, and saw a drop in his sex drive, among other horrifying effects. The film brings up questions of the morals of the fast-food industry, and whether they should be regulated (and be able to be sued) like the tobacco industry. The low price and high caloric content of fast food is also a huge issue, as it leaves poor people more prone to obesity, especially as they likely have less time to exercise.
Food Inc.
If you have ever wondered where the meat and produce at your local grocery store came from, this film holds the disturbing answer. This documentary is full of interviews with congressmen and women, professors, farmers, and more, and takes a serious look into the business of U.S. agriculture. The movie explores the practices that produce our meat, grains, and vegetables, and find that not only are they unsustainable, many are also inhumane. Everything seems to be genetically modified, animals (and even some workers) are treated terribly, and Americans suffer at the hand of huge corporations. You're going to start questioning the origins of each morsel you put in your mouth (and will probably be disgusted by what you find out).
The Cove
There's no way you can walk away from The Cove without having a lot on your mind. The Oscar-winning film delves into the dolphin hunting and fishing practices in Japan, but will affect you personally even though they're on the other side of the world. Not only will the story captivate you, as the production team has to act like spies with hidden cameras and microphones in order to get the footage without being killed or imprisoned, you will feel it in your gut as dolphins are lured into a cove, captured in nets, and then stabbed to death. The meat is sold in Japanese grocery stores and was served in school lunches, though that stopped since dolphin meat contains high levels of mercury. You'll probably find yourself Googling other fishing methods and what's being done to prevent the terrible treatment of sea life.
Killer at Large
It's no secret that obesity is a serious problem facing America, but this documentary shows you just how serious the consequences can be. As adults grow larger, they are also raising obese children who are more likely to be diabetic and won't develop healthy eating and exercise habits. This film points out ways in which the government is furthering the problem rather than stemming it. It also gives alarming statistics that will make you think twice before picking up another cheeseburger or piece of cake: obesity is the cause of 110,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, and it contributes to 1/3 of cancer deaths.
The Future of Food
It's remarkable how much engineering goes into most of the food we eat now, much of it unlabeled so you'd have no idea. If you haven't already gone organic, you'll probably at least consider it once you're through watching this film that details the genetic modification of food. You'll see the huge corporations that play such a large role in the agribusiness and the organic farmers who are trying to hold on to their way of life. You'll have some real food for thought (unmodified, thankfully), including questions of what consuming genetically engineered produce will do to our bodies and what the decrease in biodiversity will mean for our lives.
The Price of Sugar
We put it in our coffee, our cakes, and our cookies, yet we don't know where sugar comes from or what the human cost is. This documentary explores the terrible plight of Haitians who work in slave-like conditions in the Dominican Republic. They are lured in by the promise of higher wages, but are stripped of identification and forced to live in large, crowded camps. They work for vouchers that afford them about one meal a day, and every day, they work about 14 hours in the field harvesting the sugar cane. Much of this sugar is imported to the U.S. While it's unclear exactly what should be done to ease the situation, you might find yourself reaching for the Splenda instead.
Food Matters
You may not accept every idea in this film, but it will certainly get you thinking. Food Matters proposes that many illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, and depression, can be treated with proper nutrition. The film makers also present the healthcare industry as one that would prefer people to be sick so it can profit. This may be an extreme accusation for many viewers, but some lessons about vitamins and whether natural medicines are better than those made by the pharmaceuticals can be taken away from it, even if you don't opt for the raw diet advocated by the film.
Food Stamped
Food Stamped doesn't deal as much with how our country produces food as it does with how the system helps the most needy get food to eat. In this documentary, you'll see the deficits in the food stamp program in the country; they allow you to eat even when you're poor, but you can only afford the cheapest foods, which are typically the least healthy. This contributes to high rates of obesity and extremely bad nutrition among the poor, including their children. If you want to get the full picture of the conditions low-income families are living in, the film gives you a challenge to do on your own: only spend about $1.25 per meal (per person). This is about what the average allocation of food stamps gets you.