I was able to catch an early, pre-release showing of the new documentary, Food Inc., last night in the nearby town of Ojai, California. The film actually hits theaters in June, but the early showing was hosted as part of a mini festival put together by an Ojai organization called Food for Thought, which is dedicated to teaching local children about food and helping schools serve healthy lunches. The film's producer and director, Robert Kenner, was on hand to answer questions and to sign books (Food, Inc., the book, is a companion to the film.)

I'm certain you will hear this opinion more as reviewers see this documentary, so let me be the first to express it. This is a great documentary. Seriously great. Like Oscar nomination great. The cinematography is stunning. The investigative journalism impeccable. Eight years in the making, this incredibly important film grabs you in the opening frames and doesn't let go until the end.

One might expect PETA-style shock-and-awe to pound you over the head with shrill and strident anti-establishment dogma. But Food, Inc., delivers quite the opposite. Every point is presented fairly and responsibly -- understated, if anything, and never overstated.

There are heroes and villains in this film, but only because there are heroes and villains in real life. The villains (Monsanto, et al) are treated gently and fairly and given every possible consideration. This is not "gotcha" journalism. Both sides are given the opportunity to have their say, and the viewer -- no matter how skeptical or invested in the status quo -- will be convinced. The dots are connected in this film, and the inescapable truth is laid bare.

One of the reasons people don't understand what's so bad about industrial food is that the story is so complex. Food, Inc., presents that story in a way that only film can, enabling viewers to easily grasp complex realities such as how E. coli-infected spinach is caused by the feeding of corn to cows, how government food subsidies increase illegal immigration and why nearly all the soy grown in the US is the intellectual property of Monsanto.

If you're familiar with the work of Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") and Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma"), then you will be familiar also with the themes of this film. Schlosser and Pollan make their respective cases at various points in the film, which serve as the structure and foundation.

The documentary is about our broken food system, yes. But it also exposes the outrageous power of a tiny handful of food companies, power they wield to silence critics, intimidate farmers into submission and dictate public policy. This power remains unchecked by the FDA, by lawsuits, by state and federal governments.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this movie, however, is its happy ending. The most important fact in the entire movie is how much power consumers have to effect change. And it's true: We can change the entire system, right all the wrongs, save the environment, reverse the health epidemic and end demonic animal treatment by simply making informed and self-interested food choices.

By the closing credits, you'll want to jump up and go do something. The film ends with a list of exactly what you can do.

Go see this film. Tell your friends to see it. Tell your Congress person to see it. The food system must be fixed. Go here to see where it's playing, and when.

A new documentary from filmmaker Robert Kenner and co-produced by author Eric Schlosser (who wrote Fast Food Nation) hits theaters June 12. It's called Food, Inc., and it exposes the horrible reality about the foods we eat, and provides clear guidance about what we can all do about it. Check out the trailer here, and don't miss this film!