Finding some great videos...
Organic Agriculture in Cuba
Urban Gardens in Caracas
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Dervaes Gardens
Planning on interviewing these folks next month..
On ABC
The Business
The Official Site: Path To Freedom
The Blog
On ABC
The Business
The Official Site: Path To Freedom
The Blog
Monday, November 16, 2009
Weeks 6 & 7
So..
Within the Past two weeks, I finished reading the book Food Politics, and have begun a new book - The Politics of Food and Culture. I'm really enjoying this one because it is a series of separate essays by different authors, and (to save time) I can pick out only the essays that are most relative to my film research. I've also begun to realize that (seeing as week 8 is beginning) I'm running out of time! I've been so very busy this quarter, and balancing it all has been difficult. Although I am only doing 8 credits, I really was hoping to have a lot more research done by now. Thus, I have a new plan as far as research goes... instead of writing many small papers - I will write a longer essay that serves as a synthesis for all of my research/thoughts about researched topics. I will breakdown what I have learned, as well as main points I want to include in my film, and why they are so important. This essayistic format may lend itself to the film, and I am considering taking an essayistic approach to the film as a possibility -- giving it slightly poetic mood which may compliment the animations. I have been wanting to try an experimental format like this, so I am seriously considering it.
Also, I have decided that I will not spend as much time reading individual books one-at-a-time, but instead, I will grab main points out of many books. I am really interested in the topic I am researching, and I really would love to read all of my books from cover to cover, but I'm realizing it's not a realistic goal, especially when I'm only devoting 8 credits to the project as a whole. My focus on research has also taken me away from many hours learning after effects, so I'm hoping to balance the two in the coming weeks.
Some books I am now reading:
I've also begun watching films...
The first is titled Growing Awareness and i believe it was made by an Evergreen Student a few years ago. It focuses mainly on local (Olympia/Seattle area) organic farmers and how they support themselves and their communities with "community supported agriculture" (CSA's). Many of the farms, like Rising River Farm, have stands at the Olympia Farmer's Market that I buy produce from often, so it was really great to see where the food I buy comes from and what the Farmer's story/perspective was on a range of topics involving organic food.
Overall, I enjoyed the film, though there are a lot of mistakes the filmmaker made that I made note of so I can avoid them... for example, a lot of the interview shots were dark/needed to be color corrected; some parts went on for way too long (though they were visually interesting ideas at first, they became less interesting after being on screen too long). The film also included a lot of very personal stories of farmers, which were informative, but I think I want to stay away from that in my film, to give it a broader message ( a few personal touches a great, but not for the majority of the film). The filmmaker did a very cool effect where they filmed rows of crops (very linear) from a car and then sped it up so it looked very textural and interesting. This gave me the idea of doing something similar with texture and have that as a background for motion graphics/text/animation.
Topics from the film that inspired me were the "community" aspects ( I do want to touch briefly on CSA's before talking about groups like GRUB and community gardens), genetically modified produce (sometimes hormones are added to make the shape perfect! We truly are a cosmetically obsessed society), the idea of eating seasonally and eating raw food, America's cheap food policy (in the U.S. we spend only 10% of our income on food -- some of the cheapest food in the world, though some of the most expensive real estate), and a big one -- QUALITY OF LIFE.. being outside and farming (especially with your community) makes people happy! (Versus being inside with the television, etc.)
I have a few other films to watch and I'll make posts after I'm done with them..
I've also decided on the tone of my film... I feel that many documentaries tend to be a bit depressing, especially when talking about global issues such as food. I'm not saying I want to exclude any statistics or REAL facts just because I want to keep it up beat, BUT I do want the audience to leave the film feeling uplifted by a positive message. When I worked on organic farms in Canada, I experienced a lifestyle and a sense of community that I had not felt before -- though it is similar to that warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I go to the farmer's market. I want my audience to understand simple pleasures like eating an organically grown strawberry right off of the plant -- the sweet and tangy flavor seems to explode and melt in your mouth.. very unlike bland corporately grown strawberries (which are grown in a plastic covering to hold all of the chemicals in the soil). Organic food itself is beautiful -- brightly colored, fragrant, textural, and delicious. I want the film to look and feel all of those things (and it's in HD so I think this is fitting). Also, I don't want to use cheesy depressing music during all of the statistics, because I feel it is overdone. I'm not sure what to do for soundtrack ideas, but I do want to give it a country-ish feel. Like bands that play at the farmer's market! I just want to tell people the real facts about what large corporations are doing (and not doing) to regulate food, and what actually goes into food processing,etc... and give them an alternative that is enjoyable, sustainable, and self-reliant.
Within the Past two weeks, I finished reading the book Food Politics, and have begun a new book - The Politics of Food and Culture. I'm really enjoying this one because it is a series of separate essays by different authors, and (to save time) I can pick out only the essays that are most relative to my film research. I've also begun to realize that (seeing as week 8 is beginning) I'm running out of time! I've been so very busy this quarter, and balancing it all has been difficult. Although I am only doing 8 credits, I really was hoping to have a lot more research done by now. Thus, I have a new plan as far as research goes... instead of writing many small papers - I will write a longer essay that serves as a synthesis for all of my research/thoughts about researched topics. I will breakdown what I have learned, as well as main points I want to include in my film, and why they are so important. This essayistic format may lend itself to the film, and I am considering taking an essayistic approach to the film as a possibility -- giving it slightly poetic mood which may compliment the animations. I have been wanting to try an experimental format like this, so I am seriously considering it.
Also, I have decided that I will not spend as much time reading individual books one-at-a-time, but instead, I will grab main points out of many books. I am really interested in the topic I am researching, and I really would love to read all of my books from cover to cover, but I'm realizing it's not a realistic goal, especially when I'm only devoting 8 credits to the project as a whole. My focus on research has also taken me away from many hours learning after effects, so I'm hoping to balance the two in the coming weeks.
Some books I am now reading:
- Diet For a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe (pub. 1971)
- and the updated version - Hopes Edge: The Next Diet For a Small Planet (pub. 2002)
- Seeds For the Future: The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment by Jennifer A. Thomson
- The Benefits of Urban Gardens In Theory and Practice by Alys Barkes
- City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America by Laura J. Lawson
- The City Gardener's Handbook by Linda Yang
I've also begun watching films...
The first is titled Growing Awareness and i believe it was made by an Evergreen Student a few years ago. It focuses mainly on local (Olympia/Seattle area) organic farmers and how they support themselves and their communities with "community supported agriculture" (CSA's). Many of the farms, like Rising River Farm, have stands at the Olympia Farmer's Market that I buy produce from often, so it was really great to see where the food I buy comes from and what the Farmer's story/perspective was on a range of topics involving organic food.
Overall, I enjoyed the film, though there are a lot of mistakes the filmmaker made that I made note of so I can avoid them... for example, a lot of the interview shots were dark/needed to be color corrected; some parts went on for way too long (though they were visually interesting ideas at first, they became less interesting after being on screen too long). The film also included a lot of very personal stories of farmers, which were informative, but I think I want to stay away from that in my film, to give it a broader message ( a few personal touches a great, but not for the majority of the film). The filmmaker did a very cool effect where they filmed rows of crops (very linear) from a car and then sped it up so it looked very textural and interesting. This gave me the idea of doing something similar with texture and have that as a background for motion graphics/text/animation.
Topics from the film that inspired me were the "community" aspects ( I do want to touch briefly on CSA's before talking about groups like GRUB and community gardens), genetically modified produce (sometimes hormones are added to make the shape perfect! We truly are a cosmetically obsessed society), the idea of eating seasonally and eating raw food, America's cheap food policy (in the U.S. we spend only 10% of our income on food -- some of the cheapest food in the world, though some of the most expensive real estate), and a big one -- QUALITY OF LIFE.. being outside and farming (especially with your community) makes people happy! (Versus being inside with the television, etc.)
I have a few other films to watch and I'll make posts after I'm done with them..
I've also decided on the tone of my film... I feel that many documentaries tend to be a bit depressing, especially when talking about global issues such as food. I'm not saying I want to exclude any statistics or REAL facts just because I want to keep it up beat, BUT I do want the audience to leave the film feeling uplifted by a positive message. When I worked on organic farms in Canada, I experienced a lifestyle and a sense of community that I had not felt before -- though it is similar to that warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I go to the farmer's market. I want my audience to understand simple pleasures like eating an organically grown strawberry right off of the plant -- the sweet and tangy flavor seems to explode and melt in your mouth.. very unlike bland corporately grown strawberries (which are grown in a plastic covering to hold all of the chemicals in the soil). Organic food itself is beautiful -- brightly colored, fragrant, textural, and delicious. I want the film to look and feel all of those things (and it's in HD so I think this is fitting). Also, I don't want to use cheesy depressing music during all of the statistics, because I feel it is overdone. I'm not sure what to do for soundtrack ideas, but I do want to give it a country-ish feel. Like bands that play at the farmer's market! I just want to tell people the real facts about what large corporations are doing (and not doing) to regulate food, and what actually goes into food processing,etc... and give them an alternative that is enjoyable, sustainable, and self-reliant.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Week 5
After reading the book Organic, Inc., I've been paying a lot more attention to labeling on the organic food I buy. Every truly organic product must be certified by the government (USDA), who contracts independent groups to do this certification. One independent, third party certification group that I've been noticing on a lot of labels is Quality Assurance International. I'm going to be looking more into them in the future, as their headquarters is located in San Diego. As I will be in LA this winter, I may take a day trip down there for interviews.
I've also been checking out the USDA website, which has a lot of information - including a list of both synthetic and non-synthetic ingredients stating which of these substances is or is not approved for organic food processing (the food contact substances I've been reading about). Pretty interesting, considering there are always substances getting approved or banned.
The book Food Politics has been pretty interesting, although a bit redundant and extremely dense. The author, Marion Nestle (whose real name is Paulette Goddard) is a professor of food health and nutrition at NYU, and in the 80's she was on many government health advisory boards and committees - so she really knows the U.S. food industry. Yet, because she took part in so much of this, she tends to go into intense detail about food certification, and things like the food pyramid.. which are interesting, but sometimes it's just too dense to comprehend. She also writes a lot about the lobbying system in regards to the food industry, and how pro-industry many government agencies tend to be. She refers often to the "revolving door" of officials who bounce from being heads of government agencies like the USDA to large corporations to being lobbyists (many of these are lawyers). She sights Micheal Taylor, the lawyer who has in the past been very involved with Monsanto, as well as the FDA, and other agencies. The film we screened on Tuesday, The Future of Food focuses on Monsanto (leading corporation in food biotechnology..) and mentions this political "revolving door", including Micheal Taylor. I'm beginning to make connections like this throughout my research, and it is definitely helping me narrow down the topics I want to cover in my film.
Food Politics has it's own blog as well, which is helping my research. As informative as this book is, especially in regards to political food systems (and all the corruption involved), it's all a bit of a headache. I don't know how much I will go into serious politics of food in the film, just because it's a very convoluted topic, but this is helping me narrow down the basics. I've been mostly just reading chapters that aid my research, and skipping over the redundant parts. One topic from the book I want to cover is the U.S. surplus of food and how this effects advertising. Essentially, we have TOO MUCH food in the U.S., thus there is an increase in advertising so consumers will keep buying more than they need - thus, the high rates of obesity, food waste, etc. Corporations get consumers to buy by lobbying.. they convince the FDA, USDA, and other government organizations (who are the main influences on public nutrition) that no food is "bad", and any food, no matter how processed, can be integrated into a healthy diet. The government then encourages the public, in ways like the food pyramid (which directly targets children and the undereducated), that eating a wide range of foods (and consuming MORE) is what will satisfy a healthy diet. The author gives a wide range of examples from advertising and corporate statements about the "nutritional benefits" of foods that I may consider quoting in the film. Also, I'm interested in spotlighting certain products in particular that have especially horrendous advertising campaigns, like GMO's (just a bit about biotechnology), Aspartame (which I've researched a good amount in the past already), and possibly something about the meat and dairy industry, or the hype about using margarine instead of butter.
My next read will probably be Food and Culture: A Reader, which is more of a global take on food "from perspectives of anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, and sociology". Should be interesting.
I've also been checking out the USDA website, which has a lot of information - including a list of both synthetic and non-synthetic ingredients stating which of these substances is or is not approved for organic food processing (the food contact substances I've been reading about). Pretty interesting, considering there are always substances getting approved or banned.
The book Food Politics has been pretty interesting, although a bit redundant and extremely dense. The author, Marion Nestle (whose real name is Paulette Goddard) is a professor of food health and nutrition at NYU, and in the 80's she was on many government health advisory boards and committees - so she really knows the U.S. food industry. Yet, because she took part in so much of this, she tends to go into intense detail about food certification, and things like the food pyramid.. which are interesting, but sometimes it's just too dense to comprehend. She also writes a lot about the lobbying system in regards to the food industry, and how pro-industry many government agencies tend to be. She refers often to the "revolving door" of officials who bounce from being heads of government agencies like the USDA to large corporations to being lobbyists (many of these are lawyers). She sights Micheal Taylor, the lawyer who has in the past been very involved with Monsanto, as well as the FDA, and other agencies. The film we screened on Tuesday, The Future of Food focuses on Monsanto (leading corporation in food biotechnology..) and mentions this political "revolving door", including Micheal Taylor. I'm beginning to make connections like this throughout my research, and it is definitely helping me narrow down the topics I want to cover in my film.
Food Politics has it's own blog as well, which is helping my research. As informative as this book is, especially in regards to political food systems (and all the corruption involved), it's all a bit of a headache. I don't know how much I will go into serious politics of food in the film, just because it's a very convoluted topic, but this is helping me narrow down the basics. I've been mostly just reading chapters that aid my research, and skipping over the redundant parts. One topic from the book I want to cover is the U.S. surplus of food and how this effects advertising. Essentially, we have TOO MUCH food in the U.S., thus there is an increase in advertising so consumers will keep buying more than they need - thus, the high rates of obesity, food waste, etc. Corporations get consumers to buy by lobbying.. they convince the FDA, USDA, and other government organizations (who are the main influences on public nutrition) that no food is "bad", and any food, no matter how processed, can be integrated into a healthy diet. The government then encourages the public, in ways like the food pyramid (which directly targets children and the undereducated), that eating a wide range of foods (and consuming MORE) is what will satisfy a healthy diet. The author gives a wide range of examples from advertising and corporate statements about the "nutritional benefits" of foods that I may consider quoting in the film. Also, I'm interested in spotlighting certain products in particular that have especially horrendous advertising campaigns, like GMO's (just a bit about biotechnology), Aspartame (which I've researched a good amount in the past already), and possibly something about the meat and dairy industry, or the hype about using margarine instead of butter.
My next read will probably be Food and Culture: A Reader, which is more of a global take on food "from perspectives of anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, and sociology". Should be interesting.
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