Mattox and business partner Doug Clemons have founded a film company, Faerie Films, and are developing a documentary that will follow five or six kids through the day, watching what they eat while at school and at home.

“Vending Machine” will show how the environment affects the way young people buy and consume snack foods.

Mattox, 37, moved from Ft. Lauderdale to a more “…health conscious California,” she said.

“I was sick from poor eating habits, but when I became a vegetarian my health improved. I found I had more energy to do the things I like, dancing, bike riding and tennis.

“Now I want to help children in a positive way.”

Mattox doesn’t suggest a vegetarian lifestyle, but wants to encourage people to look at how some food processing companies and advertising contribute to poor health and obesity in children.

She’s especially appalled at the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides present in meat and crop plants. There’s no government eye watching what’s going on, she said.

“From the slaughterhouse to the mouth, I want the entire distribution (of food) exposed,” she said. “The best vehicle to do this is a documentary. We’ll include humor and animation to attract kids.”

Doug Clemons, 47, said he has battled weight all his life.
“I belonged to the ‘clean plate club,’” he said. “I was conditioned with food, sweets and junk. Food was a reward. Now I’m a parent of a 15-year-old and the audience for this film.”

Mattox said she’s not expecting a transformation about what people eat but wants consumers to think about it. It’s about the displacement of bad food with good food, she said.

“In our film, we want to do a pure study, not manufactured. That’s why we want to follow a few kids around 24/7. At the end of the study we can confront the child and the family about the way they eat. It’s almost an intervention.”

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