Why Do So Many Food Documentaries Seem to Think We’re Stupid?

You can tell that the assembled experts who proceed to admonish them are straining to be diplomatic, but it only makes them seem patronizing. How else could someone sound while telling you what you already know, as if you didn’t already know it? Fruits and vegetables are healthy dietary choices. Exercise is good for you. Most of us have fully absorbed these messages by the time we hit third grade. And yet television still reminds us of them with a muted arrogance and a patronizing smile. “You Are What You Eat” is just one popular example — in Netflix’s top 10 shows the week of its release — among many: Recent times have also brought us “Feeding Tomorrow,” “Live to 100,” “Poisoned,” “Beyond Weight Loss,” “Eating Our Way to Extinction” and many more.