This post has been moved from Coffee Hero. It was originally written on June 17, 2009.
Last week I had an opportunity to see a new documentary about food call Fresh. This was a feature film at STIFF, which stands for the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. After the movie the filmmaker Ana Joanes was there to answer questions from the audience. I was going to post this review on my personal site, but I thought it might be of interest to coffee fans for two reasons.
- Although the movie doesn’t cover coffee, coffee is a crop. Coffee is farmed and has its own story to tell with regards to being organic.
- I’ve learned that fans of quality coffee tend to be fans of quality food as well. Understanding the different methods of food production is something I believe quality coffee fans will find interesting.
In the title of this post, I made a reference to Michael Pollan’s book Omnivores Dilemma. This movie is a great follow-up to to those that have read or haven’t got around to reading the book Omnivores Dilemma. That book that will open your eyes to how food gets on your plate in this country. The first 100 pages will shock and anger you. It should be read by every American. The second section of the book explores the solution and introduces us to organic farmer Joel Salatin.
The movie Fresh touches on the problem with mechicalized processed food, but then focuses on the solution, including an inspiring visit to Joel Salatin’s farm. The movie also introduces us to an amazing urban farmer that loves teaching as much as farming. When I was a little kid, I left the movie Star Wars eager to get into a space ship for battle. I left this movie wanting to start my own farm or garden at the very least.
I may never grow coffee, but the money I save by growing my own organic tomatoes can be spent buying organic coffee. 
Sources:
Fresh The Movie – Official web site.
STIFF 2009 – Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals – Amazon page for book.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma – My review.
Grow your own organic tomatoes??
For those of you old enough to remember the inflationary 70′s when gardening became popular again and people were eager to grow their own food there was a funny book called something like “How To Grow Your Own Food For Only $85. a Day”
The point being growing your own food may be good for the soul but forget about saving money. And you will have plenty of silent partners in your organic tomato venture: tomato horn worms, mildew, white fly, unseen soil borne pathogens, and lots of other bugs and diseases. But, what the heck, have fun; summers are short in Seattle anyway!
We finally watched Food, Inc this week. While a lot of the information wasn’t new to us, it was still inspiring. We’re also talking about composting and starting a small garden when we move to our new home this summer.
That farmer, Joel Salatin, has quite a little empire. Check out his site. He may be coming to lecture near you. I’m tempted to check out his farm when we move, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of shopping locally as the place is still several hours from where we’ll be.
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