FOOD, INC: the politics of food on the big screen

By now you've probably heard about Food, Inc, a new film that's co-directed by Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation fame. Filmmaker Robert Kenner offers a highly developed expose-type examination of the food industry, government regulatory agencies such as the USDA and FDA, corporate greed, and unsustainable markets. While none of this will be new to sustainability or green adherents, the new film provides a big public forum for the return of food politics as a social movement that is relevant to people of all socio-economic and cultural viewpoints. Starting in your local grocery aisle and ending on your table, it's the middle that will turn your stomach no matter how much you already know: slaughterhouses and factory farms are undeniably undigestable for a green planet and a healthy population.

The film is a must-see in the genre of An Inconvenient Truth or Bowling for Columbine, and like other message-based non-fiction films (the word "documentary" isn't quite accurate, although the officials at Monsanto, Perdue, and Tyson were unwilling to offer a counter-argument on screen), there are reams of educational and promotional materials designed to help change the larger food system. Still at it, despite personal attacks by corporate spokespeople, Marion Nestle, who is a public policy expert, food industry critic , and scientist-at-large and a strong voice in food advocacy for decades, offers a whole host of film-related resources on her Food Politics website and blog. The book-that-goes-with-the movie is a terrific overview of the problems inherent in the agricultural-food system -- and more importantly, a great tool for action. Consider that an anti-Food, Inc website is already in place, sponsored mainly by meat industry folks attempting to counterspin the film's message. The defensive posture is not surprising: these companies are among the worst violators of farm workers' rights, they engage in countless lawsuits designed to advance business over consumers, and they've allowed some of the worst food safety violations of the last three decades to happen in a supposedly regulated marketplace. It's unfortunate that the current problems with food production are generally presented by vitriolic opponents, especially since the solutions are most likely to come from a middle ground. However, the film does highlight commercial producers (Stonyfield Farms among the strongest) who demonstrate that large-scale production does not have to entail environmentally damaging methods.

Stock up on your local (or home grown) veggies before you head to the theaters, though: as more than one reviewer has pointed out, this film is not for the squeamish. Better yet, find a local group screening such as this "Pack the Theater" Slow Food Sponsored Event in Portland, Oregon, and then eat out at your favorite sustainable restaurant!

Vegan Soul Food: Sexy Green Food

 Eating with ecology in mind is often about finding pleasure without feeling as though you're constantly deprived of satisfaction.  To go vegan is sometimes seen as an act of sacrifice, especially when it comes to eating within cultural expectations, the cuisines of our families, communities, and ethnic-racial heritage.   But Bryant Terry, vegan chef and good food activist, has been promoting fabulous vegan food  as a sustainable alternative for the planet and for folks who love soul food but also struggle with hypertension, diabetes, and high blood pressure.   What's great about Terry is that he integrates art, policy, advocacy, music, politics, holistic living, cooking skills, and more into the everyday act of feeding ourselves as individuals but also as members of a community.   As a current fellow in the Food and Society Policy Program, Terry embraces the label "eco chef and food justice advocate" and has been appearing across the US to promote cooking as a tool to change to world. His projects range from creating the southern organic kitchen (dedicated to promoting healthy eating in urban areas with high rates of illness and poverty), hosting a television show on PBS, and a poster series with Faviana Rodriguez.

Check out Bryant's blog for fabulous new recipes (he provides great music to accompany each one!!) -- and for updates about his many projects related to bringing good food into struggling communities.     His first book Grub: Ideas from an Urban Organic Kitchen, was co-written with activist Anna Lappe, and was filled with great recipes.

  And now his latest culinary output, Vegan Soul Kitchen,   has been making waves everywhere from Ebony to the Miami Herald.  While you're making the delicious roasted yam soup or carrot cranberry-walnut salad with walnut vinaigrette, you can also consider yourself part of a movement to think about food as a way of  opening people's minds to new combinations and to thinking about cooking together and eating well as an act of communal self determination.  Invite ten friends over (and no, they don't all have to be vegans to enjoy brussel sprouts with garlic and cacao cafe no lait pudding ) and see what he means.