I watched Food, Inc. over the holiday weekend, a documentary about US food companies whose products fill grocery store shelves and bins and supply our numerous restaurant chains. I’m a pragmatic independent, so I’m able to see through the one-sided nature of the filmmaker’s criticisms of food companies. But there’s significant merit in the film as well. The filmmakers argue that the application of factory methods to our food system in the last two decades – with its relentless drive to reduce costs – has stripped food of its nutritional value and safety. The catalyst to the change was the emergence of super-sized buyers the likes of McDonalds and Walmart. Even if you are not a McDonalds or Walmart customer, your food choices are being driven by their demands on suppliers. One net result, the film claims, is that we are a far…