Equitable Food.
As I sat and watched the film Fresh, those were two words that stuck out like a sore thumb. Why did they hit me so hard? Well when you work with fair trade products from all over the world each day, you are working for a more equitable trade system, one that does not marginalize small producers from countries that typically have limited access to larger markets. To me that make sense, it is only fair.
Well, doesn’t our food system also deserve to be equitable? Small farmers deserve access to markets here in the U.S., our bodies deserve fair treatment by eating healthy foods designed to enhance our quality of life, and our animals deserve to be raised humanely and given a place in our food system that most closely resembles what nature intended. The movie Fresh takes a look at both farmers who are working towards changing our food system into one that is more sustainable as well as farmers who use conventional methods and try to make a living as part of the bigger industrial food business.
We learn a lot from Joel Salatin, a sustainable farmer in Virginia who hasn’t used pesticides in over 50 years on his family farm and from Milwaukee’s own Will Allen, the founder of Growing Power, an urban gardening and sustainable food education organization in the heart of our city’s food dessert. Some of the film is also narrated by Michael Pollan, sustainable food activist and author of numerous books, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, who gives us nice reminders about why antibiotics, pesticides, loss of soil nutrients and corporate food control are all words to be weary of.
For those of us who have cared about the local and sustainable food movement for a long time, this may not provide any new information. What it does is provide graphic reminders of what we are truly eating when we participate in the conventional industrial food system and encouraging examples of real farmers working for change. It reignites that spark for equitable food just as springtime approaches and fresh produce is just around the corner. Andrew Kimbrelll, the Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, concludes that, “Every decision we make, what we grow, what we eat, is creating a different future for the land, farmers, diversity of crops, the health of our own bodies and communities.” Will we make that trip to the farmers market this summer or settle for our regular supermarket routine?
Come and check out Fresh for yourself! Four Corners has copies of Fresh that we are happy to lend to the community FREE of charge. Just stop in. Looking for other films? Check out our full film lending library collection. Or for more information on the movie itself, visit www.freshthemovie.com.
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