At the Movies: Food Beware
April 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Posted in Industrial agriculture, Sustainability
There's a field full of poppies, too
The literal translation to this French film on organic food is, “Our Children Will Accuse Us,” but in English the title becomes, “Food Beware: The French Organics Revolution.”
I watched it courtesy of Netflix, and while it isn’t a great film, it certainly is worth a look to see how the French react to the same problems we’re grappling with here: pesticides and artificial fertilizers versus food grown naturally.
The setting is a small town in southern France where the local school switches from industrially-processed meals (very much like the ones served at my daughter’s elementary school here in the District of Columbia, it turns out), to what we dream about when we think French food: utterly fresh produce, local cheese, delicious artisanal meats.
We also see plenty of the kids growing their own salad in their own school garden.
More disturbing are the testimonials from mothers and fathers about children–and adults–who have suffered terrible diseases, such as leukemia and infertility in alarming rates, supposedly because of all the chemicals being sprayed on crops. In France, apparently, it’s not hard to fill an auditorium with locals eager to hear visiting experts declare that agricultural chemicals are decimating the population. One visionary declares that France could solve its agriculture problems by diverting crop subsidies into school meal programs. The demand from schools for farm goods would lift all boats, he declaims.
It’s sad, and very hopeful, all at once. And having spent a year studying in Montpellier, France, I’m a sucker for those southern Midi accents. Just like in Jean de Florette, one of my all-time favorite films.
This is worth a watch just to see the two little girl romping through an improbable field of red poppies.
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