WASHINGTON – The corn industry is lashing out at an Oscar-nominated documentary that has grossed out grocery shoppers, saying the film is unfair to many of the nation’s farmers and shouldn’t win.

“Food Inc.,” which was nominated for best documentary, has captured audiences with its behind-the-scenes look at the food industry, bringing cameras into feedlots, slaughterhouses and chicken farms used by corporate agriculture, describing stomach-turning practices in an effort to encourage consumers to buy locally grown and organic foods that aren’t mass produced.

The corn industry, one of several food industries attacked in the film, is fighting back. Though the official voting for Sunday’s Academy Awards is over, the National Corn Growers Association, the industry’s largest trade group, is encouraging corn farmers to get the word out in the media and on social networking sites like Facebook to rebut the documentary in the final days before the Oscars.

“If we don’t shoot down their arguments with credible and truthful information, our reputation as America’s farmers will suffer significantly,” reads an alert sent to member farmers this week.

The movie taps into a growing social movement critical of the nation’s industrial food system. The film features Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation.” Both books are credited with galvanizing opposition to industrial agriculture.