Ronald McDonald never looked so sinister. Fed Up takes aim at the obesity epidemic, attempting to inform the public about how systemic the problem is at the moment. Fed Up successfully points the finger at the most problematic part of growing obesity worldwide, but it doesn’t comprehensively study the problem preventing it from becoming a great documentary.
Fed Up is about the obesity epidemic across the globe. It asserts that the government has been so successfully lobbied by processed food, agriculture, and sugar industries so immersivley that the standard message of exercise and self-control will only slow the poisoning of our bodies: the problem is systemic. In addition, processed food advertising is now branding children at the earliest ages to create nearly inescapable eating habits. Fed Up showcases this thesis by using standard documentary fare: humanist stories of obese children, research, history, political anecdotes, ironic humor, etc.
It’s best to think of Fed Up as the informant/whistleblower in that it is the start, but not the end, of fixing the obesity epidemic. Producer Katie Couric lifts the curtain on just how uphill our battle is going to be. Profit-driven corporations will stop at nothing to keep the status-quo, and many of our governmental attempts at change resulted in brilliant tactical policy changes from the processed food world. When society demanded less fat in food, the companies simply added more sugar to the food to maintain profit. When skim milk grew in popularity the excess fat left over went into cheese making, which was heavily promoted as equal to milk. Daily percents for intake of nutrients conveniently leave sugar off the list because the “science” isn’t settled on the daily amount (sugar also has about 50 different names in the list of ingredients on a nutrition label). Michelle Obama’s initiatives were corporately sponsored by companies who changed her message to only be about exercise. Part of you tips your hat to the machinations of this powerful machine while the rest of you dry heaves your popcorn and processed butter you’re eating in the theater as politician after politician, regardless of political party, succumbs to the will of these companies. Fed Up maximizes focus on corporate profiteering for greater dramatic effect, and to not provide false equivalency to personal dietary responsibility.
In addition, Fed Up sidesteps personal responsibility by arguing about ingrained early-age branding. Some things are obvious, like fun mascots like Tony the Tiger or getting a toy in a Happy Meal. However, the well runs deep: candies at the check out aisle and sugary cereals in the aisle are purposely at the height of children’s eyes. School lunch funding being slashed led to corporate sponsorship of lunchtime. What kid will choose salad over a double cheeseburger and fries? Hell, even pizza is a vegetable according to our government. Parents can definitely help out in the home, but they cannot control the corporate push on television, in school, and anywhere else their child’s eyes go.
Fed Up isn’t a perfect documentary: the kids all share similar (if heartbreaking) stories and more needs to be made of the cost (medical, mostly) obesity is providing our society. However, Fed Up starts the conversation and gets you riled up, which any great documentary aims for. Katie Couric clearly holds this issue near and dear to her, and she makes a compelling case for signs of the corporate knot slowly unraveling. The best part is how she nails both sides of the political aisle; don’t expect Sarah Palin or Michelle Obama to be too eager to interview with her anytime soon.