The Oscars Go Green: Food, Inc., The Cove, Get Nods From The Academy (VIDEOS)

The Oscar nominations are in, and we're happy to see Food, Inc. and The Cove are among those honored. Both are up for best documentary, and each brings necessary attention to weighty green messages.

Food, Inc. chronicles the dark side of agricultural food production in the U.S., giving a horrifying look at the food we put in our mouths without a second thought. It's been hailed as a film that must be seen -- It's received major critical praise and was one of the most talked about films among HuffPost's Green bloggers ever. Check out this roundup what our bloggers had to say. Oprah recently featured the film on her show and called it "thought-provoking and eye-opening."

"There is a growing movement for change," Director Robert Kenner said in his blog for The Huffington Post. "And the food companies are starting to take notice. Since Food, Inc. opened in theaters, I've been invited to sit down with the very same companies that once refused to appear on camera."

The Cove examines the secret, annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, where fisherman trap schools of dolphins and sell their meat dishonestly as whale meat, even though the meat contains high levels of mercury. It's the kind of film that begs the phrase, "I can't believe this is really going on."

"It's not just that these filmmakers expose vicious, inhumane and ecologically dangerous practices, apparently sanctioned and covered up by the Japanese government and its media," film critic Marshall Fine said. "But the filmmakers have done it while risking their freedom -- even their lives -- for the cause."

Oscar buzz is sure to bring additional, well-deserved viewership to both films, and ideally reviving two crucial dialogues.

Food, Inc.:

The Cove:

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Food, Inc.

The Cove

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Comments

[carlycatherine]

11:24 AM on 03/02/2010

So excited for the "green" Oscars! I can't wait to watch this Sunday! I recently reviewed Food, Inc. on my blog "Carly's Critiques,­" check it out:

http://car­ly.onsugar­.com/75537­50

I'm planning to write a review of The Cove within the next couple of days--keep checking my site for reviews of Oscar-nomi­nated films!

[AdamK4rationalthought]

10:24 AM on 02/05/2010

This movie has made me:
1. Stop eating all fastfood and chains
2.Eat only grass fed meat products.
3.Opened my eyes to the horriblene­ss that is America's food industry.

[simarti44]

09:20 PM on 02/04/2010

FANTASTIC! FOOD INC. IS GREAT!

[WYHKTai-Tai]

10:12 PM on 02/03/2010

I just saw Food Inc. I'm over here in Hong Kong, so I have to wait for the DVD's. I'm going to try and find 'The Cove' next.

I was horrified at the whole Mons@nto thing, very scary; but was pleasantly surprised at the positive message towards the end. You're right, Saturdaybo­y, as stated in Food Inc., It is down to us! We vote 3 times a day in how are world and resources are being managed.

BTW fanned for your comment.

[Connee]

01:59 PM on 02/03/2010

doubleB...­I agree with your comment completely­. I want to say a big "You Did It!" to Rick O'Barry for the heart and the tenacity in making the protection of dolphins, stopping the slaughter in Tajii his life's quest.
Flipper (Kathy was her name) did not die in vain!

[doubleB]

12:33 PM on 02/03/2010

Food... probably the "lowest hanging fruit" so to speak, where we can make the biggest environmen­tal impact. Not to mention health and animal-rig­hts issues. What is it, like 10-20 calories worth of vegetation you put into meat, for every 1 calorie you get out? I can't think with a bigger environmen­tal impact. Try and think of the last time you flew across the country and didn't see the landscape in neat little agricultur­al patterns everywhere you looked? If we reduced our meat consumptio­n by just half, think of all the land use we'd be saving, not to mention health benefits. And along with that comes GHG emissions - even more so than the transporta­tion industry.

And seafood... we're overfishin­g our oceans at an unsustaina­ble pace, not allowing our fisheries to recover, bottom trawling everywhere where there are lax environmen­tal laws... what a travesty. Pesticides used for agricultur­al production­... causing deadzones all along our coastlines­, right along with our sewage and other waste materials dumped into our water systems.

These movies are great in the respect that the various food lobbies have kept the blinders on us for far too long. IMO, that's the greatest cause of our environmen­tal degradatio­n. Willful ignorance caused by Big Food, and perpetuate­d by our "for-profi­ts" above all else society.

[Saturdayboy]

03:24 PM on 02/03/2010

I concur. I would go on to say that these industries aren't "evil." They are simply doing our bidding. And our bidding commands that they supply us with endless amounts of "cheap" food. Thus as long as the price point of bacon remains low we won't complain (until, that is, the next outbreak of salmonella­).

As soon as we the people open our eyes to the environmen­tal and health travesties that our demand creates, things will change. They have too or we will end.