Team Earth’s Movie Week is highlighting classic and/or notable environmental films in preparation for Earth Day. We’re also posting the favorite environmental movies of staff here at Team Earth headquarters. Today, Conservation International Web Writer Molly Bergen talks about “Fresh.”
I always make sure I have a big meal before seeing films like “Super Size Me” or “Food Inc.” because I know that afterward, I’ll want to stop eating altogether.
These films are very well done (and, in my opinion, important for every American to watch), yet by pointing out the widespread prevalence of unhealthy preservatives, inhumanely raised meat and the hundreds of miles (and gallons of fuel) between farm and plate, I often leave the theater feeling powerless to change anything.
That’s one reason I like “FRESH” so much. Although the film does include some footage of toxic feedlots and barren fields, director Ana Sofia Joanes chooses to focus on the positive, celebrating the “farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are reinventing our food system.” Most of them are not taking these actions out of tree-hugging sentiments about communion with nature; rather, they have seen that sustainable farming promotes healthier ecosystems, animals and humans alike – and turns a greater profit over time.
Among the people profiled in the film:
- Joel Salatin, an innovative Virginia farmer praised in Michael Pollan’s best-selling book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” for his eco-conscious methods, and
- Will Allen, winner of a MacArthur “genius award” in 2008 for his work providing fresh, healthy, affordable food to a variety of people through his urban farm in Milwaukee.
In what is probably the biggest testament to the film’s positive outlook, I was actually hungry at the end of the film, eager to get my hands on a salad and be a bigger part of this growing movement for fresh, responsible food.
Want to learn more? Visit the “FRESH” website to watch clips from the film or find a screening near you.
