One thing that is constant this November, though, is the shortening of the day length. Now the sun is coming up 7-ish and going down 5-ish, so all outdoor activities necessitating light need to be done within those hours. Having had a very warm (HOT!), dry, sunny summer, I'm actually enjoying the shorter days because I have an excuse to do some of the indoor things I really enjoy: painting rooms, sewing, reading, watching foodie documentaries, and perusing seed catalogs.
I recently ordered four new foodie documentaries and I'd like to share a little info about each of them with you.
- The Garden - this documentary is less about food and more about the capacity to grow food. It covers the ups and downs of an inner city 14-acre community garden in the middle of Los Angeles which was created in the wake of the 1992 LA riots. The parcel of land becomes the object of development plans and politics within the city. The Garden is an interesting study into neighborhood relations and cultural identities through the simple act of planting seeds and growing food.
- Ingredients - loved this documentary! It focuses on Alice Waters and the local food movement where restaurants actually embrace local food and the challenges of sourcing their menu locally and seasonally and searching for the best local ingredients instead of just ordering whatever Food Services of America will deliver to the doorstep. This is the future of fine eating based on methods of the past. Start asking your local restaurants where they are getting their food and let them know you'd like it a lot if they'd try to find things local and in season.
- Forks Over Knives - explores the belief that today's degenerative diseases can be controlled, if not totally reversed, by deleting animal-based and processed foods from our diets. They present some very compelling facts and arguments for a vegetarian or vegan-type lifestyle.
- Fresh - if you've researched alternative farming and big corporation agriculture at all, you've undoubtedly heard of Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan. They are two of the people this documentary focuses on in an effort to reveal what has happened to our food chain since supermarkets and fast food franchises took over. When Fresh first came out it was an underground documentary that kicked off a grassroots movement to educate Americans about where our food is actually coming from and to reveal that there are healthier alternatives.
I get a lot of pleasure out of watching documentaries like these and reading the corresponding books and studies that are now all over the place. In the wake of the Hostess company going belly up and the media push that "Twinkies are no more!" I just can't cheer loudly enough! Yay! Hip, hip, hooray! So long Hostess! I choose to believe that instead of it being a labor union issue or a corporate greed issue, maybe enough Americans are becoming smart enough to quit buying these processed sugar-laden products and they will truly go under because we have become better eaters. Let's keep hoping!
Michelle
www.BearButteGardens.com
e-mail: Michelle@BearButteGardens.com
605-490-2919
