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Christian Lam
Professor Mike Kalustian
Speech and Communication 006
October 7, 2013
Food Matters
In the 2008 documentary Food Matters, film makers dissect the pharmaceutical
industrys interest in capitalism, the affects of the food we eat and its relevance. The film
extends to its audience that a well balanced diet and exercise can lead to a greater change in
health as compared to the conventional pharmaceutical products purchased over the counter and
prescription medications recommended by a doctor. In this documentary, they provide statistical
evidence, real life stories and occurrences, and hypothetical scenarios; all of which reinforce
their main ideas: how much we know about our food, the things that claim to work, and what
actually does work.
One of the biggest questions that we can propose about our food, according to therapeutic
nutrition specialist and author, Andrew Saul, is how old is our food? Some of Sauls main
arguments are that with week-old food, we are given lack of nutrients, and with food that is
unripe, will yield the very same results. Another speaker in the film, David Wolfe, speculated
further by bringing up controversial evidence that cooking our food can actually be bad for us.
Wolfe, a specialist on raw foods and super foods, informs the audience that cooking foods can
not only kill living enzymes and nutrients within the food, but can also force the body into a state
of lucocytosis; further explained by Ian Brighthope, a professor and medical doctor, that cooked
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food can activate our immune system by forcing the body to produce more white blood cells. By
informing us that a world-wide accepted form of preparing food can actually lead to chronic
malnutrition, the film portrays to us how much we actually know about our food. Due to the way
our society is being run, the film claims that we are losing our ties to our food and we are
shifting our paradigms; rather than valuing what ingredients go into our food and how it is
prepared, we value cars, the latest product, houses, etc. all of which only have value because
we give it value.
In the documentary, Phillip Day, an investigative journalist, told of his belief that because
the world is living based off a capitalist society, our paradigms have certainly shifted. He
proposes the idea that drug manufacturers do not make drugs to save people, but to profit off of
its usage. Whatever the drug manufacturers are putting into its medications do not simply
eliminate the symptoms causing the problem, rather, they try to mask over the problem. A quote
that is most relatable to his thesis would be the Dalai Lamas response to the question what
surprises you most about humanity? Man surprised me most about humanity because he
sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health
and then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that
he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies
having never really lived (Dalai Lama XIV). Many may justify eating empty calories and lack
of exercise by arguing that our lives have become extremely fast-paced and there simply isnt
enough time to be eating healthy and staying fit. Therefore, once health problems do arise, such
as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, Brighthope exclaims that we try to return ourselves to
homeostasis through drugs and chemotherapy. However, Saul brought up that over 106,000
people die from adverse drug reactions that arent due to overdose or misuse; rather, they are
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expected reactions and considered normal side effects. Saul further argued, what is the real
problem?
The film clearly states that a doctor with a medical education does not have nutritional
knowledge; claiming that no one really associates sickness with a poor diet and a lack of
nutrition. Wolfe explains that conventional medicine preaches that heart disease is not
preventable, when in fact, a well balanced diet allows the bodys natural ability to heal itself to
work. Wolfe and Saul give evidence based off of a personal experience and statistical findings;
explaining that Dr. Deah Ornish claimed that a vegetarian diet consisting of fiber, vitamins, etc.
lead to stress reduction and a reverse affect on cardiovascular disease. The things that do work,
meditation and a vegetarian diet, however, do not make money; therefore, pharmaceutical
companies do not fund it. Dr. Max Gerson, a world-renown physician, proposed his nutritional
cure to cancer, Gerson Therapy, by utilizing the bodys natural defenses by feeding and fueling it
with nutrient-rich super foods. Time and time again, lives are being saved due to these
extraordinary changes in diet; proving that diet does have an impact on ones health and well-
being.
How much do we really know about our food; when we live in a capitalist society, it is
hard to tell what actually works. In this documentary, they provide statistical evidence, real life
stories and occurrences, and hypothetical scenarios; all of which reinforce their main ideas: how
much we know about our food, the things that claim to work, and what actually does work. The
film extends to its audience that a well balanced diet and exercise can lead to a greater change in
health as compared to the conventional pharmaceutical products purchased over the counter and
prescription medications recommended by a doctor.
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Works Cited
"Dalai Lama XIV - Fresh Notions." Fresh Notions. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
"Food Matters." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
"Gerson Institute." Gerson Institute RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
"Gerson Therapy." Gerson Therapy. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
Kain, Erik. "The Dalai Lama Is Wrong." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 07 Oct.
2013.
"Max Gerson." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
"The Teachers." Food Matters. Food Matters, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.