A Year of Food Movies

While Food, Inc. has been getting most of the ink, a number of food movies are coming out this summer. Peter Smith of the blog Good collected a list that includes:

Food Fight – The movie has won several awards: Audience Award 2008 International Documentary Association, Best Documentary 2008 HD FEST Los Angeles, Best in Show-Documentary Indie Fest 2008. Director Christopher Taylor is creating original documentary programming with social, political, and cultural significance and his company’s first project is FOOD FIGHT. The movie is a look at American agriculture policy and food culture and the California movement that has created a counter-revolution against Big Food.

What’s on your plate? – Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old African-American city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas.

Fresh – Ana Sofia Joanes’s documentary also features sustainable food gurus Joel Salatin and Micheal Pollan, but tries to put a more positive spin on the reforms the food system needs.

American Harvest – attempts to shed light on the changing face of the United States in particular as it relates to Agriculture. This film also points out the flaws and inconsistencies of the current U.S. policy on immigration. The filmmakers follow both legal and illegal farm workers and the farmers caught in the middle of a flawed immigration policy.

The Greenhorns – Severine von Tscharner Fleming’s upcoming documentary focuses on farmers under 40. While that might not sound like a big deal, considering that the average age of farmers in the United States is 57, her 20- and 30-something farmers represent a new face of farming that is both whimsical and sensible.

Julie and Julia – is a late addition that does not fit into the documentary category. I just saw the trailer for it in the theater when I went to another movie. It tells the story of Julia Child as played by Meryl Streep and a second contemperary story of Julie Powell, a writer played by Amy Adams, who studies Julia Child’s cooking and life.

UPDATE: If you live in Raleigh and are interested in seeing one of these documentaries, contact the Colony Theater at 847-5677 and let them know.

UPDATE 1: Eating Alaska – is a serious and humorous film about connecting to where you live and eating locally. It is about trying to break away from the industrial food system when that means not only buying fresh seasonal food from local farmers, but taking part in a world of hunting and gathering. Made by a former city dweller now living on an island in Alaska and married to fisherman and deer hunter, it is a journey into regional food traditions, our connection to the wilderness and to what we put into our mouths.

UPDATE2: Homegrown – follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. While “living off the grid”, they harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, make their own bio diesel, power their computers with the help of solar panels, and maintain a website that gets 4,000 hits a day.

UPDATE 3: Blue Gold – describes the growing conflict over water. The film  sounds alarms about our endangered water supply – and the grim implications. And we know that water is the most precious resource we have.

UPDATE 4: No Impact Man – Colin Beavan, a newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no longer avoid pointing the finger at himself, leaves behind his liberal complacency and vows to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year.

UPDATE 5: Ingredients – American food is in a state of crisis. Health, food costs and our environment are all in jeopardy. A movement to put good food back on the table is emerging. What began 30 years ago with chefs demanding better flavor, has inspired consumers to seek relationships with nearby farmers.

UPDATE 6: Tableland – is a culinary expedition in search of the people, place and taste of North American small-scale, sustainable food production showcasing the successful production of tasty, local and seasonal food from field to plate.

UPDATE 7: What’s Organic about organic? – delves into the debates that arise when a grassroots agricultural movement evolves into a booming international market.  As the film moves from farm fields to government meetings to industry trade shows, we see the hidden costs of conventional agriculture.

UPDATE 8: Nourish – explores the provocative question: What’s the story of your food? By providing a “big picture” view of our food system, Nourish reveals the many ways that food connects to our environment, our health and our communities. Most importantly, Nourish offers specific action steps that viewers can take to help create a sustainable food future.

UPDATE 9: Two Angry Moms – My husband and I were packing healthy lunches for our kids, only to find that we were being undermined by the school’s offerings of junk food with no nutritional value. It made me angry. So I decided to do something about it. I made a movie.

UPDATE 10:  Polycultures – portrays the diverse communities around Greater Cleveland coming together to grow a more sustainable and equitable food system.