Remember a world before the "Everything is Bad" genre of documentaries? Before Michael Pollan wrote 'Omnivore's Dilemma' and gave way to 'Food Inc.' 'King Corn' 'Forks Over Knives' 'Fed Up' 'Cowspiracy' and so many others? Before everyone you knew was guiding their eating habits based on this endless churn of food investigation and the internet rumours that followed? There used to be a time when we all ate simpler food and our diets didn't make us terribly sick and the way ingredients travelled between field, farmer and consumer was relatively straightforward. And we didn't need all these docs to untangle the knotty, secretive truths behind our daily bread.
But sometime, somewhere along the line, something changed. We don't live in that world anymore, and there's multitude reasons why. And just when you think you've seen it all, and there's nothing else that could possibly surprise you about this insane messed up system, along comes an unassuming little series called 'Candy Jail'. This show is remarkably well researched and conveyed. And much of the info it contains [the histroy of grocery stores and the unconscionable amount of waste they produce] will absolutely blow your mind. It doesn't matter how many Vandana Shiva interviews you've heard or how many NYT bestsellers you've read on food politics, there is almost certainly stuff in here that you haven't been exposed to before. An excellent package and very easy to listen to. Bravo