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10 Films That Will Change How You See Food

A man sits on the floor leaning against a gray couch, while a woman, who seems lost in thought about films, reclines with her legs raised against the couch arm. The room has a bookshelf in the background and various items around, including a table with a book in the foreground. MyFitnessPal Blog
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Cooking shows like “Chef” and “The Great British Baking Show” are constantly on the popular lists of various streaming services. The same goes for in-depth documentaries about food — all with the goal of enlightening your food choices and empowering you to take charge of your own health. We scoured streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime to choose some of the best.

While not every diet or food choice presented will necessarily be the ‘right’ choice for you, expanding your knowledge of the science and practices behind food can help you make decisions about how you and your family eat.

1. “BITE SIZE”
Streaming on Netflix; rent on Amazon

“Bite Size” chronicles the journey of four children overcoming obstacles caused by their weight. From a 12-year-old with diabetes and dreams of being on the football team to a 13-year-old who attended a “Biggest Loser”-style camp, you’ll see how food affects their lives and how they cope with becoming the healthiest versions of themselves.

2. “FED UP”
Streaming on Netflix; rent on Amazon

Produced and narrated by award-winning journalist Katie Couric, “Fed Up” looks at the amount of added sugar in our foods and its effects on the body. The film focuses on how sugar shortens the lifespan of children, how we as a society are addicted to sugar and ultimately what it will take to fight the epidemic of childhood obesity and eliminate artificial sugars from our diets as much as possible.

3. “FOOD BEWARE”
Streaming on Amazon Prime

This documentary is unlike many food films as it’s set in France and explores the hope for change in the French food industry. It promotes a focus on local farming and home cooking to help communities thrive economically and also be healthier.

4. “FOOD CHAINS”
Streaming on Hulu; rent on Amazon

This documentary won the 2016 DOC IMPACT AWARD and focuses on farmworkers in Florida as they battle for rights against the global supermarket industry. It sheds a new light on just how the big impact supermarkets have on the food industry and the importance of fair treatment for farm laborers in the United States.

5. “FOOD, INC.”
Streaming on Netflix; rent on Amazon

This is one of the more well-known food documentaries out there and it sheds a light on where our food really comes from by taking an investigative look into factory farms — specifically raising chickens in inhumane conditions. It also shares how the diets fed to animals have affected the quality of the food we consume later in the food chain.

6. “FOOD AS MEDICINE”
Streaming on Amazon Prime

This film focuses on the growing trend of using food as medicine, versus popping pills for pain. It follows three people with chronic illnesses hoping to treat their ailments with food. It attempts to show how eating healthy and losing excess weight can help alleviate the effects chronic illnesses have on the body.

7. “HUNGRY FOR CHANGE”
Streaming on Netflix and Hulu; rent on Amazon

This documentary takes a look at the widespread availability of junk food and how it’s affecting the world. It also investigates the diet industry and its false advertising by closely examining food labels and how the industry markets a product as healthy by placing a ‘diet’ label on it when, in fact, it is still processed and therefore, contains sugars and other harmful chemicals.

8. “OF THE LAND”
Streaming on Amazon Prime

This documentary focuses on the choices we have to support local agriculture and the impact that these farms have on our health. It explains the benefits of choosing organic options from local sources and how sustainable farming can change the way you eat.

9. “SUSTAINABLE”
Streaming on Netflix; rent on Amazon

This documentary takes a look at the food industry and how it’s changed over the years through the lens of the farmer — specifically focusing on seventh-generation farmer Marty Travis. How food production and climate change will affect future generations is another focus of this film, which won the 2016 Accolade Global Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Achievement.

10. “WE LOVE PALEO”
Streaming on Hulu and Vudu; rent on Amazon

This film helps define what the Paleo diet is — and what it isn’t. “We Love Paleo” takes a look at how following the diet can affect your health and day-to-day lifestyle. The director invited  a bit of controversy after stating the Paleo diet is healthy for children (she is an advocate of the diet, though not a nutritionist) but the film still provides solid information on how to follow a Paleo lifestyle, should you choose.

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