Screening of Food Fight at the AFI Fest

I am helping to spread the word about a wonderful and important documentary that will be screened at this year's AFI Fest: Food Fight.

Food Fight looks at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement has created a counterrevolution against big agribusiness.

As the filmmakers say: "When we walk into a supermarket, we assume that we have the widest possible choice of healthy foods. But in fact, over the course of the 20th century, our food system has been co-opted by corporate forces whose interests do not lie in providing the public with fresh, healthy, and sustainably produced food.

Fortunately for America, an alternative emerged from the counterculture of California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where a group of political anti-corporate protesters--led by Alice Waters--voiced their dissent by creating a food chain outside of the conventional system. The unintended result was the birth of a vital local-sustainable-organic food movement, which has brought back taste and variety to our tables."

I just literally finished watching it since I was lucky enough to get a copy to screen so that I could write about it. And, I have to say that it is a not to miss film!

As somebody who has focused on these issues for the past decade, I thought I knew everything but this film showed me I was wrong. It traces the rise of our industrialized agriculture system in both an informative and entertaining way, using old film clips, interviews and stories. Just one example of what I learned, I never realized the connection between our industrial military complex and the food system and how so many of the same companies are involved in both: Monsanto, Dow Chemical etc. But, it talks about the most important reason of all to eat local, fresh food, it simply tastes better.

If you want to learn about the sustainable food movement, and what great taste is all about, this is a great way to do it because it features the leading voices in that movement, the best teachers you can have: Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, Will Allen.

Do your best to catch the screening at the AFI Fest:

When: Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 3:15pm
Where: Mann Chinese 6 Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
No Cost: It's Free!!!!

Watch the trailer on the Food Fight website, and visit the AFI Fest page for more information.

And for those of you on face book, you can also join their group (like LA Farm Girl did) http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40070554427