Food, Inc. is Coming to PBS!

Gather your family and friends. Set your DVR. Mark your calendars: August 9, 2011. That's the day Food, Inc. will be airing on PBS for everyone to see das part of their POV listings.

What is POV on PBS?

POV, or "Point of View" is PBS' way of supporting independent films and programming for the public audience.  Their tagline is "Documentaries with a point of view." They air new independent documentaries on Tuesdays throughout the summer and the fall (the Food, Inc. presentation is actually a repeat for POV, who first aired it in April 2010). The schedule may differ depending on your local PBS station, but for me the new films air at 10pm and usually re-sir on the following Thursday at 2:30am (this is where the DVR comes in very handy!). I high recommend checking out the POV website for your local listing, or, if you do not have access to PBS, merely for a chance to see some of th fantastic documentaries that are out there to be seen.

What is Food, Inc.?

In case you have missed the litany of posts that I have already written with some reference to this film, or you missed its Oscar nomination, then at least know this - the issues raised in Food, Inc., the people who made the film, are in the film and those who continue to fight the good fight for the issues in that film are the ones who largely inspire all that I write about here on the Searching for Sustenance blog.

The POV site give a nice synopsis of the film along with a trailer, and Food, Inc.'s official website is a fantastic place to go for information on the film and resources about joining the food movement.

Why You Should Watch Food, Inc. (again)

If you have never seen this film, then it is time to do so. While things are changing every single day, sadly not that much has changed in our food industry since the creation of this film. It is time to lift the veil and see what's going on. It is one thing to read about the food industry (which is how I began this search), and something completely new and different to SEE it.

If you've already seen this film and you are wondering why you should bother to tune in to POV in a couple of weeks, well I've got two reasons for you:

1. Notes on Milk ~ Apparently POV will be airing Food, Inc. along with a short film about milk. I'm curious! I've never seen it before, so why not tune in?
2. SHARE THIS FILM ~ Take this opportunity to share Food, Inc. with someone you wish to enlighten. Perhaps do dinner and a movie: plan and prepare a simple dinner created with great finds at the week's farmers' market, from the organic selection at your local store, or better yet, grown from your own land! Then watch the movie and discuss (the Food, Inc. Discussion Guide for teachers has some great questions you may want to adapt for a small group viewing!).

There are lots of documentaries out there about food in the United States and in the world. They each have their own point of view and relevance to our discussion. Perhaps Food, Inc. holds such a prominent place in my opinion of these films because it was among the first that I saw. However, I believe it is something a bit more than that: Food, Inc. is one of the most comprehensive food films I have seen. It gives a great view of the "big picture" - from a consumer's standpoint, a farmer's standpoint, from the perspective of animal welfare and human health, the politics and business involved and the activism that we can embrace to help to make change. I consider Food, Inc. to be Food Movement 101 - a prerequisite to all "courses" (films, books, articles, etc...) that come later, so go set your foundation to make a greater change and watch the film!

Related Posts

• Baby Steps Toward a Solution (post after my first-ever viewing of Food, Inc.)
  
• The Food Inc. Discussion Guide for Teachers
• 5 Movies to Nurture Your Eating Conscience

5 Movies to Nurture Your Eating Conscience

Being a conscious eater may translate, for some individuals, into a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, for others it may mean buying less processed foods, or buying more organic foods, but whatever it ultimately translates to on your plate, it all begins the same way - someone starts thinking about food. If you've begun thinking about food, or are looking for reasons why you should be thinking about your food, here are five films you should watch that will nurture the conscious eater in you.

Food, Inc.
No conscious eater has missed this one. It received a lot of press coverage when it was nominated for an Academy Award, so most people, even if they have not yet seen it, have at least heard of it. The tag line on the official movie website is "Hungry for Change?" The fact of the matter is, you will be by the time you finish watching this movie. Here is the trailer for the film so you can see for yourself

Food Matters
Where Food, Inc. focused mostly on the food industry and the impact it has on our diets and culture, Food Matters comes back to looking at the actual food and its affects on our health. The film begins with a quote from Hippocrates that pretty much sets the stage, "Let food be thy medicine." While the message seems to be pro-Raw diet, which I am not 100% sold on (see my post on Vegetables: Raw or Cooked?), the discussions of the nutrient deficiencies in our diets, the lack of nutritional education for most medical students and the cancer studies were all equally fascinating. The official website of this film is packed with all kinds of resources and communities, so if you are intrigued by what you find in Food Matters, there is plenty of stuff to keep your curiosity satiated. Here's the trailer for you to check out:


Tapped
Do you drink bottled water? Do you think it is better for you than tap water? Do you think it is different than tap water? If so, here is a film to get you to start reevaluating some of your choices. I was first awakened to the true horrors of the water industry when I watched Blue Gold: World Water Wars last Spring (see my post here), but Tapped managed to take that global perspective and make it incredibly personal for me. Their official site is also jam packed full of information from the movie and beyond. This is a must-see film for anyone who carries a bottle of water with them. Cue the trailer!


King Corn
Two guys, friends in college, decide that, upon graduation they will move from Boston out to Iowa to farm an acre of corn crops. Why? Well, they found out that an inordinately large proportion of their bodily make-up was from corn! If you have read The Omnivore's Dilemma or been exposed to Michael Pollan in any way - other writings, interviews, etc, than this news is not terribly earth shattering, most of us in America would find the same thing. However, these gentlemen decided to explore it further - grow corn and follow it to see where it goes and what it becomes. This was a fun movie to watch with a serious message. Do they have an official website? Of course! Who doesn't - check out the King Corn official website, then check out the trailer:


No Impact Man 
An author and activist in New York City was thinking about what his next project should be, when he came up with a year-long endeavor for his entire family to undertake. This family of three went through an entire year, still living in the city, producing no waste, turning off their electricity, using bike and scooters, taking stairs instead of elevators, buying no new products and everything else in their power to make NO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT on the world around them. This was a family that lived on food in packages before the project and then began to make use of the farmer's market, growing their own and eating in season. This is a compelling project that was documented on the No Impact Man blog and in a book No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process (holy moley! That is a LONG title!!). Take a sneak peek at the whole deal with this trailer:



There they are - five films to make you think. There are more, and there are books, too, but for today, we will stop with this early primer. By the way, if you have Netflix, then you are in super-luck, because ALL FIVE of these movies are availble for instant streaming (I just checked), so you can start watching them right now! Enjoy the movies, come back and let us know what you think and whether or not you feel these films have nurtured the conscious eater in you!