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FRESH

Subjects: Activism, Agriculture, American Studies, Anthropology, Business Studies, Environment, Food Supply, Science, Sustainability

Grade Level: JrH-Adult
Producer: Video Project
Closed Captioned: No

Running Time: 70 mins
Country of Origin: United States
Study Guide: No

Copyright Date: 2009
Available in French: No

FRESH is a fresh look at the problems and consequences of our current industrialized food system — something that affects us all. But more than just a critique of the ills that accompany mass production on the farm and mass marketing in the food chain, FRESH focuses on the farmers, thinkers, and business people who are re-inventing food production.

People of vision with an eye for sustainability are already at work changing how farms are run, how food is distributed, and how the land is cared for. Their success is proof that a new paradigm where sustainable practices and profits are not incompatible is not only possible, it's inevitable . . . if people make the choices to support it. The movie features individuals who are creating new approaches to address environmental, health, and economic challenges throughout the food chain. It highlights the innovative work by agriculturalists that generate efficiencies and synergies to make farming profitable again on a more modest and sustainable scale through modeling nature. It illustrates how farmers are eschewing artificial inputs like chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and pesticides to grow healthier livestock and produce for consumers, and create a better way of life for themselves.

Will Allen, a former pro basketball player is now one of the most influential leaders of the food security and urban farming movement. He teaches people in the inner city how to grow their own food in small plots and abandoned lots.

Joel Salatin is a world-famous sustainable farmer and entrepreneur who, by observing nature, devised a rotational grazing system among his cattle, chickens, and pigs that heals the land while making his operations many times more profitable than his conventional farming neighbors.

David Ball reinvented his failing supermarket chain to feature locally and sustainably-grown food products. His plan has not only brought his business back, it's restored the entire local economy.

The film also includes a conventional farmer in Iowa to illustrate the struggles family farmers face.