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Nature's Clay

Published on December 13, 2006

It is one of nature's extraordinary products and a source of destruction and creation. It helps sustain the world's entire population and because of the way we integrate this product into our lives, it also contributes to the destruction of the biosphere and small economies. In the United States alone, the economy of this product is an employer of over 21 million people with over 2.7 million production sites.

Ready for some film for thought? Watch and take action with Media That Matters: Good Food.

The industry employs millions of immigrants and its bearings in the US have, for centuries, been a reason to cross rivers, desserts, oceans and continents. It is not the weapon, textile, or car industry. Nor is it retail, China's booming economy or the tech revolution. It is food.

Consumers, producers and those involved in food politics, culture and the science of food are, for better or worse, changing the global landscape of food. The US contributes less than 1% of its GDP to foreign aid and supports organizations like the IMF and World Bank in policies abroad that restrict government subsidies. Yet, it contributes more than 13% to subsidize its domestic agricultural, keeping prices of the American agriculture industry at their highest. Meanwhile, one out of every eight children in the US will go to bed hungry every night.

Food sustainability argues that food's production, distribution and availability should be balanced on both the supply side and the demand side. In reality, however, production, distribution and availabilty are three different global economy ball games. Strategically incorporating notions of community and food sustainability in public education will contribute to a generation that will be made aware of world hunger; making food lines and food loans a thing of the past.

Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow explains the tragic effects of the Green Revolution in India.

The The Future of Food outlines the present consequences of having used genetic modification (GM) to adress food concerns and problems of the past. The boom of GM foods, or The Green Revolution, was justifed by increased production and lower costs, and sold to the public as a vital cure for world hunger. The view was that by standardizing agriculture through science, food availability would lead to equality and eradication of hunger. In other words, science would bring in equality to the naturally unequal selection process in the world of flower and fauna.

Modifying plants with growth capacity in any region has come at an enormous cost: variability of fruit, risks to wildlife, higher toxicity, allergenicity, antibiotic impacts, biological pollution, and even contamination to non-genetically modified species. "Even if at an enormous cost, at least we are producing enough food so that everyone can eat," some might say. The not so public answer is that, while genetic modification did promote increased yields in some areas of the world, it did not substantially lower global hunger levels.

For example, the short film The Luckiest Nut in the World argues that the type of global capitalism we have embraced promotes inequality, no matter how much production of food there is.

Slow Food counteracts fast food and fast life by bringing awareness to food traditions, origins and the global effects of food choices.

So it is arguable that the Green Revolution may have exacerbated world hunger problems by setting us on a vicious cycle of consumption that sidetracks the path of sustainability.

Gardens are excellent starting points for younger generations to think creatively about the incorporation food into the day-to-day and what that means for the larger global system. Recently we talked to Dickinson Despomier of the Vertical Farming Project who told us, "There are a lot of people in cities, there are even more calories in cities, and there are even more calories outside of a city that make it all possible. Why should people who cannot even fathom coming to a place such as New York be left to have to feed New York?" Along the lines of Mr. Despomier's idea, many schools are beginning to institute gardening programs, health awareness programs, and curricula that asseses media literacy and food.

In strong contrast to the fast food nation we have become, there does seem to be a new awareness around food sustainability. Media That Matters Good Food partner, Slow Food USA, provides a variety of online resources for educators looking to integrate food education into schools. The idea behind edible schoolyards is to foster notions of community and food sustainability along with regular curricula.

Watch a seven minute version of MTM:Good Food winner, Ripe for Change.

California cuisine pioneer, Alice Waters, mentions in the film Ripe for Change that edible schoolyards are, "An amazing opportunity to transform the school lunch not only into something that is nutritional and educational but something that is awakening the senses of these children." And it isn't only in California.

This past October, Slow Food held the second edition of Terra Madre, a world meeting of food communities. There were over 15,000 participants from across the globe, including farmers, breeders, fishermen and artisan food producers. Arts Engine's Rico Cullen was there presenting MTM: Good Food's Young Agrarians. "Terra Madre is beyond belief," he said, "When 1,000 people are present for a screening of Young Agrarians, you know there's some serious food activism going on."

Indiewire's Joshua Rowin sees the use of film as an outlet for food politics and a newly forming cultural zeitgeist. He mentions that this is evident in the almost simultaneous release of Nikolaus Geyrhalte's documentary film Our Daily Bread and Richard Linklater's fictional adaptation of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. This new assessment of food sustainabilty in film, schools, non-profits and the mainstream is definitely the product of an evident and growing concern over the implications of the type of globalization we have embraced. A global system where cheap, mass-manufactured food is a revered cornerstone.

Diana Lee, another Arts Engine staffer, was at first skeptical in regards to the potential preaching aspect of the film. After going to the premiere however, she told us:

"Whether you're a carnivore or herbivore, Fast Food Nation is a must-see film for anyone who cares not just about animal rights but also human rights. The film explores America's sickening appetite and obsession with fast food, the meat industry's inhumane treatment towards animals, and the continual exploitation of the immigrant labor force that drives the industry. The film is a truly sobering and stomach-turning look at "Where's the beef?"

Food sustainabilty is an issue that must be assessed with multi-faceted strategies. Awareness is one level but accesibility, availabilty and local growth in impoverished communities are key. Only if initiatives like The Vertical Farming Project, edible school yards, media literacy and health education are applied cohesively and collaboratively will public sectors, technology, the media and governmental institutions be bridged and fortified.

Don't know where to start? Center for Food Safety details innumerable ways to take action and become politically active in food reform.

All too often these concepts feel disconnected and irrelevant. What to do if you are not at a position to rethink school lunch and start an edible schoolyard, or aren't directly involved in public education? How do we motivate each other to unite in sustainable forces that have already been set in place by groups like the ones mentioned here?

We stop looking at food as a determinant of economic class, as a political weapon to battle with, as a test subject for genetic modifiers, and as something that does not need substantial education about in public schools. We awaken the taste buds of our politicians, teachers, students, farmers, and our ourselves. We take a bite out of food sustainability and then we continue to feast on the issue.

Fight laws like the National Uniformity for Food Act by joining The Center for Food Safety. Write to your congressional representative, integrate an edible school yard and media literacy curricula into your school or organization, make a short film about it and submit it to numerous festivals, including Media That Matters.

Had enough food for thought? Now act!