Meat

Elles Kiers and Sjef Meijman lived intensively with four Bunte Bentheimer pigs for seven months. During the slaughter month they had their beloved pig Bom killed and then prepared it themselves. The short documentary Blood (Dinanda Luttikhedde, 2011) follows the visual artists in the final phase of their research project into the origin of our food. A valuable ritual unfolds around the processing of this animal.

The last ten years have seen a phenomenal explosion in the organic food movement as it has moved from niche market to mainstream. Today, it is the fastest growing segment of the food industry attracting all of the major food corporations. THE NEW GREEN GIANTS looks at a number of these new and old organic corporations and shows how they are managing, or in some cases, failing to live up to the idealistic dreams first espoused by the back-to-the land folk of the late sixties and early seventies. The documentary also looks at some of the bigger questions surrounding organic food. Is it really healthier? Is it truly organic? Is it possible to grow from a mom-and-pop operation to become a huge supplier of major grocery chains? Is it actually sustainable? Is it realistic to think the world can be fed organically?

Is there a mental health crisis in agriculture in Colorado? Farming and ranching has become increasingly difficult over the years. An industry that is typically viewed as romantic, hardworking, and "salt-of-the earth" is actually a job full of tremendous stress outside of anyone's control. Combine that with the enormous generational pressure to continue the family farm, and you have a large group of people that are suffering silently. How do we take care of those that are taking care of us?

The meals based on indigenous ingredients and sustainability at the forefront. Project managers are soon faced with problems ranging from sourcing ingredients to staffing a high-end restaurant in a location inhabited by only 53 people.

From New York City to the farmlands of the Midwest, there are 50,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., yet one dish in particular has conquered the American culinary landscape with a force befitting its military moniker—“General Tso’s Chicken.” But who was General Tso and how did this dish become so ubiquitous? Ian Cheney’s delightfully insightful documentary charts the history of Chinese Americans through the surprising origins of this sticky, sweet, just-spicy-enough dish that we’ve adopted as our own.

Two countries, two restaurants, one vision. At Gabriela Cámara's acclaimed Contramar in Mexico City, the welcoming, uniformed waiters are as beloved by diners as the menu featuring fresh, local seafood caught within 24 hours. The entire staff sees themselves as part of an extended family. Meanwhile at Cala in San Francisco, Cámara hires staff from different backgrounds and cultures, including ex-felons and ex-addicts, who view the work as an important opportunity to grow as individuals. A Tale of Two Kitchens explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of both dignity and community.

After years of overproduction, the Reagan administration unloads over 500 million pounds of surplus cheese on the American public in the 1980s. The pungent dairy product comes to be known as 'Government Cheese.'

While the debate continues about GMOs, Roundup and other toxic pesticides, this powerful film shares remarkable stories of people who regain their health after discovering the secret ingredients in their food and making a bold commitment to avoid them.

For ten years, Raymond Depardon has followed the lives of farmer living in the mountain ranges. He allows us to enter their farms with astounding naturalness. This moving film speaks, with great serenity, of our roots and of the future of the people who work on the land. This the last part of Depardon's triptych "Profils paysans" about what it is like to be a farmer today in an isolated highland area in France. "La vie moderne" examines what has become of the persons he has followed for ten years, while featuring younger people who try to farm or raise cattle or poultry, come hell or high water.

We all love food. As a society, we devour countless cooking shows, culinary magazines and foodie blogs. So how could we possibly be throwing nearly 50% of it in the trash? Filmmakers and food lovers Jen and Grant dive into the issue of waste from farm, through retail, all the way to the back of their own fridge. After catching a glimpse of the billions of dollars of good food that is tossed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food. What they find is truly shocking.

Ayi comes from a rural area of Eastern China and doesn’t have the residential permit that would allow her to work in Shanghai. Yet, she has been cooking in the streets for twenty years, in an old neighbourhood soon to be demolished. The film unveils the chaos of an ultra-modern city aiming to wipe out so-called substandard practices and to deport an unwanted population.