Feeding Frenzy: The Food Industry, Marketing and the Creation of a Health Crisis

Synopsis: Over the past three decades, obesity rates in the USA have more than doubled for children and tripled for adolescents and a startling 70% of adults are now obese or overweight. The result has been a widening epidemic of obesity-related health problems, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. While discussions about this spiraling health crisis have tended to focus on the need for more exercise and individual responsibility, FEEDING FRENZY trains its focus squarely on the responsibility of the processed food industry and the outmoded government policies it benefits from. It lays bare how taxpayer subsidies designed to feed hungry Americans during the Great Depression have enabled the food industry to flood the market with a rising tide of cheap, addictive, high calorie food products, and offers an look at the tactics of the multibillion-dollar marketing machine charged with making sure that every one of those surplus calories is consumed.

The film features industry analysts, health experts, and advertising scholars, including Marion Nestle, Kelly Brownell, Sut Jhally, Brian Wansink, and Michele Simon.
Language: English
Country: United States
Year of release: 2013
Subjects: Social Studies; Health Education
Keywords: diabetes; food production and distribution; marketing; nutrition; obesity; USA

Name: Media Education Foundation
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Notes: The MEF produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political and cultural impact of the mass media, particularly in the US, with emphasis on gender, health, politics, race and commercialism. Sale on DVD.

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