My choice for the Oscars: Food Inc.

(You have to watch this trailer -- if for no other reason than it took me about three hours to figure out how to make it appear here).

I know, even with 10 movies on the “Best Picture” list this year (I haven’t even seen 10 movies this year, and that includes counting Food Inc. twice), my favorite isn’t on that list, but is nominated for best full length documentary. And it should walk away with the prize (not that I have seen, or even know of, any of the others. In fact, I don’t like documentaries, and I don’t think I’ve watched one in the theater since I was a kid and The Ra Expedition was the only movie playing in our one-horse, one-theater town for three whole weeks).

And it is not just that this movie is a two hour infomercial (a good one! Not the creepy type for hair removal products with Cher) for the kind of food we produce. Not just that our mentor and neighbor, Joel Salatin, is the good guy in the movie (they show him slaughtering chickens in a facility that could be ours). And not just because I have a crush on Michael Pollan (he is my old lady version of Davy Jones) who is featured throughout the movie speaking in his smooth, slightly amused voice sounding all smart and reasonable but with a tinge of passion.

More than all that, Food Inc. changed the way I think about what I eat, the way I eat, and, as a result, the way I live. And this is from someone who had, well before I saw the movie, decided to grow most of my own food, and what I couldn’t, to source locally.

I know what you are thinking – I know because several of you have already told me -- you don’t need to see a movie that puts you off your hamburger with gruesome slaughterhouse scenes. But even though Nick calls this movie a modern-day Sinclair Lewis-s “The Jungle,” its yuckiness factor is quite low. I’ve watched episodes of Law and Order that were much worse.

It is not the pictures that are disturbing in this movie (though it is often visually stunning); it is how it lays bare how big agri-business and food processors have enriched themselves by selling us food that has made us one of the sickest, fattest nations on earth. And I don’t believe we are a country of dolts. But Food Inc. shows that we have been lied to, injured, even killed in great numbers for money.

Yeah, that’s heavy stuff, But Food Inc. -- with cool but creepy music, crisp editing, the complete absence of a lecturing tone, real, charming characters (the aforementioned Pollan and Salatin to name two), and a positive ending – is not a heavy movie. Believe it or not, it’s fun to watch.

At its end, Food Inc. gives you realistic ways to escape the unhealthy, dishonest food we’ve all lived (and died) on for too long – and not horrible, unrealistic ideas like becoming a vegan (no offense to you already there) or never having another Ho Ho. In fact, if you are reading this blog, you probably are already removing yourself from the polluted food mainstream, buying from us or other local producers, demanding to know where you food comes from and who produces it before you feed it to your family.

So see the movie (or at least watch the trailer above), validate choices you already made, and let me know what you think.

Food Inc. is out on DVD and available to rent on Netflix and to buy at Amazon.