Film on American diet hard to swallow - Independent Online

FED UP

DIRECTOR: Stephanie Soechtig

NARRATOR: Katie Couric

CLASSIFICATION: PG

RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes

RATING: ***

THE latest in a line of documentaries critiquing the American diet, Fed Up quickly zeroes in on what would appear to be its villain.

According to the film, added sugar, in all forms - including not just the demonised high-fructose corn syrup, but also more natural-sounding throwbacks such as 'pure' cane sugar - is almost single-handedly responsible for what one interview subject calls the obesity tsunami sweeping the nation, and the sharp rise in diabetes.

Of course, the increased sugar in processed foods is the weapon that's killing us, according to director Stephanie Soechtig and journalist Katie Couric, who narrates and produced the informative and at times anger-inducing film. The real culprit, Fed Up argues, is an industry pushing sugar-laden junk food on an unsuspecting public.

One telling commentary - and a source of grim, if unintended, humour - comes from a mother struggling to help her obese teenager find more healthy meal options. (The movie is structured around interviews with morbidly obese adolescents and their families.)

Recently, mom tells us, she switched from buying Hot Pockets (processed food) to buying 'lean' Hot Pockets. Though meant sincerely, the line should be met with a derisive snort.

There's a reason federally mandated nutrition labels list the 'daily value' percentage for everything in that Hot Pocket - fat, sodium, carbs, protein, etc - except sugar. That's because even foods labelled dietetic typically contain more sugar than the Food and Drug Administration considers healthy.

When fat is taken out of food, there goes the flavour, too. You have to give people another reason to crave it. What this suggests is that the real problem isn't sugar, but sugar education. If consumers only knew that the stuff is not just addictive, but poisonous - one of the film's experts calls it a 'chronic, dose-dependent' liver toxin - they might make better choices.

Unfortunately, Fed Up doesn't seem to recognise the problem of 'food deserts' that can hamstring even the best-intentioned efforts to teach people how to eat right.

For an exposé of the 'food desert' phenomenon, in which many communities simply don't have options other than to buy processed foods, I strongly recommend the 2012 documentary A Place at the Table.

Celebrities appearing in Fed Up include former president Bill Clinton and former FDA commissioner David A Kessler. Both bemoan the lack of government foresight on obesity and diabetes. (Opponents of so-called nanny state efforts to regulate, say, soft drink size are given short shrift.) But author-activist Michael Pollan delivers the film's most succinct message when he says that the single best way to improve one's diet is simply to cook what you eat. And no, that doesn't mean microwaving processed food.

Making dinner from scratch can be a challenge for people pressed for time, inspiration and cash.

Subsidies propping up the fast-food and processed-food industries often make it cheaper and more convenient to buy prepared foods than wholesome ingredients.

Change, according to the film, isn't going to happen unless it comes in the form of a revolution.

For that reason, Fed Up isn't so much a warning to ignorant shoppers or tips for unimaginative chefs as it is a rallying cry. It fires up the choir. Whether it will convert the complacent is an open question. - Washington Post

If you liked Super Size Me or Sicko, you will like this.

Entities 0 Name: FED Count: 5 1 Name: Stephanie Soechtig Count: 2 2 Name: Katie Couric Count: 2 3 Name: FDA Count: 1 4 Name: Bill Clinton Count: 1 5 Name: Fed Up Count: 1 6 Name: Food and Drug Administration Count: 1 7 Name: American Count: 1 8 Name: Washington Post Count: 1 9 Name: Michael Pollan Count: 1 10 Name: David A Kessler Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1wiUc4a Title: (Only) Two Rules for a Good Diet Description: SAN FRANCISCO - To a large extent, you can fix the food system in your world today. Three entities are involved in creating our food choices: business (everything from farmers to PepsiCo), government (elected and appointed officials and their respective organizations) and the one with the greatest leverage, the one that you control: you.