Local Delicious

I caught Food Fight at the Projecting Change film festival this weekend and have to say I was a little disappointed.

The film contained some great background info on the politics of food production in the US and was a who’s who of high profile food advocates like Michael Pollan and Alice Waters. But somehow I was ultimately left feeling not quite satisfied.

More time was spent interviewing apparently famous chefs (I wouldn’t know) running high end restaurants, and less on the actual fight we have on our hands to get a hold of fresh, local food. I agree chefs are great advocates of the movement, but it felt a little as though if you don’t dine at high end restaurants, you’re out of luck.

I would have liked to know more about the regulations that ensure the continued plight of farmers, what we can do to influence change, and how eating local can help farmers in the “food fight.” (The film Tableland does a good job of adding some perspective on that issue.)

All in all Food Fight contained some great insight into the food industry machine that keeps our shelves stocked with a wide variety of tasteless, un-nutritional food and limits our access to alternatives. I just left a little hungry for more substance.

A new term for me, “ecologically intelligent design” is an exciting concept, to say the least. It proposes that all manufactured products can be designed so that everything involved in their production, including the products themselves at the end of their life, can be recycled. A “cradle to cradle” concept, if you will (read = no “grave”).

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

Waste=Food is a documentary featured at this year’s Projecting Change Film Festival in Vancouver which explores the ecologically intelligent design concept. Through interviews with its leading proponents, American architect William McDonough and German ecological chemist Michael Braungart, as well as case studies of the design concept in action, Waste=Food shows viewers that through careful planning, products can be produced that truly cycle through the Technosphere and Biosphere, never landing in a grave.

After viewing the film, participants will have a chance to hear from Mike Sommer, a consultant working with companies interested in “going green” and wanting to explore the economic benefits of making the change.

Waste=Food is playing on Sunday, April 4 at 5pm at Fifth Avenue Theatres (2110 Burrard Street, Vancouver). Purchase tickets online for $10 each (includes speaker).

More and more people are waking up to discover that our current commercial food supply model is just not working. Our food choices are dwindling and the quality of what is offered is adequate, at best. But, what can we do about it?

Food Fight: a story of culinary revolt, a multiple award-winning documentary showing at this year’s Projecting Change Film Festival (Vancouver), takes a look at alternatives to the current commercial food supply. By exploring the economic, health, and quality issues surrounding the current corporate-focused model, Food Fight offers insight into who is really producing our food and how it adversely affects communities and individuals.

Sure to be a fascinating look at a current issue, Food Fight maintains that every one of us has a choice of where we purchase our food and can have a profound effect on how food is produced in the future. In short, the real-world solution is that communities must take back responsibility for their own food supply.

As a bonus, each film at the Projecting Change Film Festival offers a speaker’s component. The speakers for Food Fight will be representatives from Farm Folk City Folk and UBC Farms.

Food Fight: a story of culinary revolt shows on Friday, April 3 at 7pm at Fifth Avenue Theatres (2110 Burrard Street, Vancouver). Order tickets online; $10 each for film and speaker.

On Tuesday, March 31st the Living Lightly Project will be screening Be the Change at the Vancouver Public Library. The documentary by filmmaker David Chernushenko explores why some people choose to live more sustainably and what it might take to get more of us on board with the concept.

The Living Lightly Project has a refreshing philosophy on what can sometimes be a very political topic.

“Living Lightly is a pursuit, a philosophy or maybe even a quest. It is a social movement with a very individual approach, and as such can be very public and communal, or very private and personal…

“Living Lightly is not about guilt, sacrifice or preaching to others. Living Lightly is about choosing to embrace a way of life that is exciting, challenging, rewarding, humbling, and as full of mistakes and dilemmas as it is full of achievements and certainty.”

I like that approach. We don’t have to beat people over the head or blather on about how hard it is to live more consciously. It can actually be fun and challenging. A bit of an adventure even.

Check out the Living Lightly Project www.livinglightly.ca

There’s just always been something grounding and grounded about, well, getting a little closer to the ground. Like talking to the people who plant, care for and harvest the food you’re eating. I think it tastes all the more delicious for the TLC that goes into it. Finally, I have some backing for my theory.

In Tableland, the independent film about burgeoning local food economies, one of the vintners talks about how the process of caring for the grapes makes them more flavourful. He explains how removing the leaves around the clusters, which is painstakingly done by hand, ensures good venting and prevents damp and fungi growth on the vines. In so doing, the grapes are exposed to more sunlight, which makes them higher in tannins and sweeter.

See, what grandma always said is true. Food tastes better when there’s a little tender, loving care sprinkled in.