A Thumbs Down Media Review
Food Matters: You Are What You Eat
by Permacology Productions
Reviewed by Tim Boyd
This DVD is very professionally and nicely done from a technical production point of view. The editing is smooth, the soundtrack is good, and the speakers are articulate. Many good points are raised about how our medical system isn’t working. Flawed medical paradigms and influences of vested interests are brought out clearly.
Unfortunately, the solution to our ills, according to this video, is vegetarianism. A number of the speakers also encourage us to gorge ourselves on water and fiber. The word came out a few years ago that there is no evidence that fiber reduces the risk of colon cancer, but apparently the producers of this DVD haven’t heard that yet.
While the gravity of these problems is enough to pull my thumb down for this video, I would not say it is a complete waste of time. There are interesting nuggets of information scattered throughout. For example, Prozac has gone off patent and the manufacturer has submitted a patent for a new version, called Prozac-R. There must be some improvement over the old version in order for the patent to be approved. According to the patent, “adverse effects which are decreased … [include] anxiety, insomnia, inner restlessness (akathisia), suicidal thoughts and self-mutilation.” Funny, I thought they had strenuously denied those side-effects for years. As long as the viewer doesn’t uncritically accept everything promoted in the video, it does a very good job at exposing the serious problems with mainstream medicine. It is available at www.foodmatters.tv.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2008.
🖨️ Print post
Strange review
You are sarcastic in your comments and have failed to miss the intention and purpose of this DVD which is very informative to many people who are not aware of the alternatives. Once you know they exist, it’s easy to assume everyone knows. This DVD does not deserve the thumbs down and your later comments confirm that. For someone who considers this a serious hobby, you write with the authority of a scientist – which it appears you are not.
A deserved review
Having seen the film as well, I must agree with Tim. Throughout the film there was much pandering to vegetarianism and plants in general. This is one of very, very many resources that completely ignores the nutrient density of animal products.
This film deserves a thumbs down. They could have easily promoted a diet free of known disease triggers like refined flour, vegetable oils, and sugar while mentioning various nutrient rich foods, but they didn’t. That’s what irks me.
I have to agree with your review – there IS good info here, but make sure your grain of salt handy!
I agree that Tim Boyd’s criticism of the films, Food Inc, and Food Matters is a bit harsh. Yes, there are points of view in both of these films that are questionable at best, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. There is a tremendous amount of good information being presented here that ultimately could lead to improvements in nutrition. Diet is a process, not an absolute, and, regardless of where we are in that process, we need to be encouraged. To take an elitist attitude towards philosophies and ideas which differ from yours, when they are still a huge improvement on big agribusiness, is counter productive —and it’s off-putting to the very people who need this information the most. We must not forget that the path to better health is circuitous and full of experimentation. And as much as we think we know, we still don’t know everything and we never will. Both of these films are a huge step in the right direction. This is my first time to visit the WAPF website and I was impressed with the content until I ran across this all-or-nothing mentality regarding films which deserve much more consideration than to be put on a do-not-watch list. Frankly, it makes me question the objectivity and sensibility of the rest of this site. Instead of a straight thumbs up or down review, why not rate it on a scale?