Jimmy's Food Factory: an interesting addition to the tiresome food documentary genre

There are a lot of "exposition" food documentaries coming out these days, especially now that the sinister "foodie" movement is trying to get everyone to pay more for their food. A lot of these documentaries are not very good.

But a new documentary-ish food series called "Jimmy's Food Factory" looks like it might be interesting. It is done by the same fellow who did the "Jimmy's Farm" series a few years ago, where he documented the pros and cons of starting your own rare breed pig farm and explored different ways to make it financially viable by opening the farm to the community and marketing directly online.

"Jimmy's Food Factory" seems as if it will take an aspect of our day that revolves around food -- the first episode tackles "breakfast", and the second deals with "the sandwich" -- and look at how many common types of foods used to prepare these meals are made, including the setup of his own prototype food production line to show how it's done in the supermarket and factory.

It's early in the series yet, but it's an interesting way of presenting the information. I am not expecting total honesty -- I think "Jimmy's Farm" had a strange reality-TV flavour to it and a lot of things were overemphasized for dramatic effect, leaving you to wonder the true state of things -- but I am expecting to learn something. The show also had an under-emphasized but obvious premise -- he had the platform of a regular national TV show, produced by the production company of his friend Jamie Oliver, and startup money loaned to him by the same when the bank would not go near it.

The new show, however, is about something more objective. I am looking forward to seeing how it evolves.