DIRT! the movie

DIRT! The Movie–narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis–brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.DIRT! The Movie is a call to action.

Visit http://www.dirtthemovie.org/ 

Viewer (optional):  Brian Rawson posted this, but hasn't viewed it yet

How to view:
- Purchase the DVD from the website http://www.dirtthemovie.org/  Just the DVD is $19; a kit for hosting free community screenings is $40.
- Purchase it online at https://gumroad.com/benpro.  Streaming version is $3, and downloadable is $10.

Director: | Producer:

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time:  | Language:  English

 Synopsis:

 Opinion:

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Earth to Mouth

Earth to Mouth

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/earth_to_mouth

Director: | Producer: Yung Chang 

Produced | Country: USA

Run Time: 41 mins | Language: English Subtitles

Synopsis: Filmed at the Wing Fong Farm in Ontario, this documentary follows the tilling, planting and harvesting of Asian vegetables destined for Chinese markets and restaurants. On 80 acres of land, Lau King-Fai, her son and a half-dozen migrant Mexican workers care for the plants. For Yeung Kwan, her son, the farm represents personal and financial independence. For his mother, it is an oasis of peace. For the Mexican workers, it provides jobs that help support their children back home.

Opinion: 

Recommendation:

Ripe for Change

Ripe For Change

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/ripe_for_change

Director: Emiko Omori | Producer: Jed Riffe

Produced | Country: United States 

Run Time: 54 Minutes | Language: English 

Synopsis: California -- always a fascinating marriage of opposite extremes -- is at a cross-roads in agriculture. Many Californians are struggling to fend off overdevelopment and the loss of farming lands and traditions while embracing innovative visions of agricultural sustainability. At the same time, California is where fast food was born and a center of the biotechnology industry and large corporate agribusiness. The debates raging in California over issues of food, agriculture, and sustainability have profound implications for all of America, especially in a world where scarcity is the norm and many natural resources are diminishing.

This fascinating documentary explores the intersection of food and politics in California over the last 30 years. It illuminates the complex forces struggling for control of the future of California's agriculture, and provides provocative commentary by a wide array of eloquent farmers, prominent chefs, and noted authors and scientists.
Opinion: The film examines a host of thorny questions: What are the trade-offs between the ability to produce large quantities of food versus the health of workers, consumers, and the planet? What are the hidden costs of "inexpensive" food? How do we create sustainable agricultural practices?

Recommendation:

Impact of the FTA with Colombian Small-Scale Framers

Impact of the FTA with Colombian Small-Scale Framers and Workers 

How to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ny3C3d-ToI 

Director: | Producer: Enlalucha Films, US Office on Colombia 

Produced | Country: Colombia  

Run Time: 6.41 minutes  | Language: Spanish (English subtitles) 

Synopsis:  Today, the U.S. Office on Colombia, along with more than 400 other organizations, academics, and individuals from the United States and Colombia, sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking representatives to vote no on the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA). The Labor Action Plan has not stopped new violence on trade unionists and labor activists from taking place, nor has it banned third party contracting that obstructs workers’ ability to unionize. 

Opinion: This powerful video voices the opinions of small-scale farmers, laborers and women of how rural areas in Colombia are being displaced. See how hegemonic countries affect the developing world. 

Camp Green

Camp Green 

How to view: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/video/camp-green/

Director: | Producer: Oxfam creative productions 
Produced | Country: Uganda 
Run Time: 3.42 minutes | Language: Swahili (English subtitles) 

Synopsis: Fifty feet by 32 feet: as far as farms go, that's probably one of the smallest in the world. But that hasn't stopped Harriet Nakabaale from turning her hard-packed chunk of Kampala into something of a miracle. In a city where overcrowding chokes many neighborhoods and nothing, it seems, can grow in them, Nakabaale's Camp Green is like a beacon. It bursts with living things, all of them edible--an important survival tactic in an urban area where the high cost of buying food can saddle a family with relentless poverty.
Read more of Harriet's story here http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/articles/harriet-nakabaales-camp-green 

Opinion: Camp green proves that even a tiny plot of land with some hard work can be a new way forward. 

Recommendation:

Food Flight

Viewer: Brittany Collins

How to view: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/food_flight

About:
Directors: Beth Biederman and Sarah Lazarovic | Producer:
Produced: 2008 | Country:
Run time: 5 minutes | Language: English

Synopsis: A filmmaker's exploration of where her food comes from.

Opinion: This short film seems very in line with the idea behind Sunday Dinners.  Text appears on screen with answers to the question, "Where do you think your food comes from?"  Answers range from honest to humorous.  Might be a good template for volunteers who host Sunday Dinners to create their own video summaries of their Dinners.

Recommendation:

King Corn

Viewer: Clara Herrero

Stream for free:  Available to watch on Netflix through “instant play”

About:
Director: Aaron Woolf | Producer: Aaron Woolf
Produced: 2007 | Country: USA 
Run time: 88 minutes | Language: English

Synopsis: Here in the US corn is definitely King, it's practically in everything we eat. This is a documentary about two guys exploring the world of corn in the US, from production to consumption and all the subsidies in between. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis rent a 1acre plot in Greene, Iowa where they grow corn for a year. The film provides a history of how corn has become America’s most productive and most subsidized grain.

Opinion: 

• The film starts out with a scientist informing Curt and Ian that corn was discovered in their hair molecules. As weird as that sounds it makes sense because corn is in tons of food that Americans are consuming. 
• In your grocery store it’s hard to find products that don’t have some type of corn component. When you go to fast food restaurants the meat you are eating was mostly likely raised on a corn diet and the French fries were fried with corn oil. 
• Ian and Curt in the quest to find out more about corn and its path to our food system decide to grow the commodity on a 1 acre plot in Greene, Iowa. 
• Through this process they discover that no matter what, the more corn you grow the more money you get from the US government. 
• Sadly, many small farmers are getting hurt and many homesteads are gone because of larger corporations coming in and buying up land to add to their ever increasing lots. Subsidy payments reward the production of corn, bottom line.
• Michael Pollan makes appearances in the film and says, “If you're standing in a field in Iowa, there's an immense amount of food being grown, none of it edible. The commodity corn... nobody can eat it. It must be processed before we can eat it. It's a raw material, it's a feed-stock for all these other processes. And the irony is that an Iowa farmer can no longer feed himself.” 

• What the film doesn’t cover is the effects of this over produced commodity on the rest of the world. There is no mention of food price spikes as a result of many farmers switching over to corn or that corn is often shipped to developing countries as part of US aid.

Recommendation: 

• This film isn’t ideal to create an Oxfam event around but it is a good reference tool  if you want more knowledge about  corn production here in the US.  
• If you want to come away with a greater understanding of the history of corn production here in the US then this documentary is a good place to find that information.  The film also touches on the various places where corn makes an appearance in our food system

Seeds of Hunger

Viewers: Brittany Collins and Brian Rawson

Stream for free: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/5856/Seeds-of-Hunger (Must request individual viewing link)

About:

Director: Yves Billy & Richard Prost | Producer: Auteurs Associes

Produced: 2008 | Country: France
Run time: 52:26 | Language: English

Synopsis: The threat of famine and increasing food shortages is not going to go away; rather it is to the contrary.  Above and beyond the stock market phenomenon lies the problem of the decline in food production that now has a structural basis.  The demonstration is overwhelming, and forces on us the question: are we capable of avoiding the impending crash?

Opinion:

• Good film with great information
• Does a decent job of at least touching on most of the GROW campaign aspects

• Focuses too exclusively on problems rather than solutions (we want viewers to feel energized rather than defeated from the start)
• Underlying message is the issue of the globalization and industrialization of agriculture (not a focus of GROW)

Recommendation: 

• Show the first 15 minutes to lead into a discussion about the GROW campaign
• Good for showing for:
• People already involved in and aware of these issues (OAC organizers and committed volunteers rather than the general public)
• Raises lots of various questions only marginally related to or outside of GROW
• Does not explore the small-scale food producer perspective.