Author Archive

Posted on November 19, 2009 - by ana

FRESH Heroes: Trina Paulus

Age is a state of mind folks! Or it sure is for Trina.

I’m not sure I could keep up with this amazing, energetic, passionate, creative (I could go on with the list of adjectives!) woman. Trina claim to fame is a beautiful children (and adult) book called HOPE FOR THE FLOWERS.

http://www.hopefortheflowers.org/

She’s working on a sequel while all-heartedly promoting a REALLY important document: the IAASTD Global Report, Agriculture at the Crossroads. Over 400 experts from over 100 countries worked for 4 years on this report which concluded that is will be small scale organic agriculture that will feed the world. Surprise???!! This report was funded by the World Bank, facilitated by all the UN agencies, and pushed by Monsanto, Sygenta, and big Ag until they saw that the conclusion was not going in their favor.
For the full report: agassessment.org
hopefortheflowers.org

Trina Paulus from ana joanes on Vimeo.

Remember! We want to feature your FRESH Heroes here too! Please send us your videos! See our requirements here: http://www.freshthemovie.com/2009/11/12/share-your-hero/

Best,

ana

Posted on November 16, 2009 - by ana

12 Things Kids Should Learn on their Own about Food

By: Orren Fox

Guest Blogger: Orren Fox is 12 years old and lives in NoBo (North of Boston). He goes to school where there is a greenhouse and a bee hive! Orren has 24 chickens and four ducks (three Call Ducks and one beautiful Mandarin). He is really interested in farming and the ethical treatment of animals. Orren would love to change the way egg layers and meat birds are raised. He says he has a lot to learn. He blogs and tweets about these issues.

There are all sorts of really interesting things to learn about food, actually I imagine you might not have really THOUGHT about food. Maybe someone hasn’t taught you about food. Most kids would rather think about other stuff.

But just for a minute, right now, stop and ask yourself – What did I have for breakfast? Ok now, think – Where did all those ingredients come from? Who made that bagel? What time did they have to get up? Where did that egg come from? Where did the chicken live and how did it live? If you knew the animal was poorly treated would that make a difference? Or not? Where did the orange juice travel from? Florida? California? Have you ever traveled to those states? Is it a long way from California or Florida to your house? How much gas did it use to ship the OJ that far?

All really interesting questions I think.
1. Vegetables taste great with butter and cheese

Honestly, what doesn’t. Even asparagus, really even asparagus. I know there are some people who will say butter and cheese aren’t healthy, but hey I’m a kid and actually I think these are true foods or “real foods.” They aren’t chemically made in a laboratory. They come from recipes not chemical compounds or lab experiments. Maybe that is too harsh. But I understand eggs and cheese, I know where they come from. I don’t know what SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE is, so I Googled it (here is what Wikipedia says – Polyphosphates are moderately irritating to skin and mucous membrane because of their alkalinity). Hmm. Not really interested in eating that.

Actually most veggies that you grow yourself or that come from your neighborhood farm taste completely different than those from the buckets in the supermarket. I actually think the veggies in the supermarket don’t really taste like much. A carrot that was harvested yesterday tastes very different from one that was harvested a few weeks ago, then spent the next few days on a truck, then the next few days sitting in the supermarket. I think the flavor must just drain out of everything as time passes. Also in the supermarket there are very few types of veggies or fruits. Very rarely would you see a Green Zebra or a Brandywine, and those are just tomato variations! Each of these variations tastes completely different, we are only really offered one or two types of tomatoes at the supermarket. These two types of tomatoes are the kinds that travel well and that are easiest to ripen or harvest. I actually don’t like the kind in the supermarket, I like Brandywines. They are sweeter.

I think kids might like veggies if they could choose the varieties they like, but they can’t because the choice is so small. I wouldn’t eat tomatoes if I could only eat the kind in the supermarket.

2. Food taste better when you grow it yourself

Food tastes better because your work is in it. I am an impatient gardener, so for me the food tastes great because I have had to wait for it to go from seeds to seedlings to flowers to fruit to ripe fruit. Somehow that makes it taste like you did it. So i guess there is a little bit of pride in those vegetables.
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Posted on November 12, 2009 - by ana

Share your Hero

By: ana Sofia joanes, Director, FRESH

FRESH has launched a blog! We’ll be sharing everything from FRESH Recipes to News From The Field which highlights the incredible experiences that we hear from our supporters when they bring FRESH to their communities.

In this blog we will highlight FRESH Heroes, the people who we encounter in our journey toward a more sustainable food system. I was inspired to share these stories after hearing a speech by Julia Butterfly Hill. Julia is best known for living in a 180-foot-tall, roughly 1500-year-old California Redwood tree for two years to prevent loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting it down. Talk about commitment! I felt very small.

Julia, as if reading my mind, told the audience that we shouldn’t look at the speakers and think “I couldn’t be up there speaking, I’m not as smart, I can’t do what they’re doing.” She reminded us that each of us need to find our place, our role in the world and this was the most meaningful contribution we could offer. I felt tremendously inspired to acknowledge my qualities and strengths and to find ways to use them to participate in creating change. This feeling sustained me throughout the making of FRESH.

FRESH has now been screened to thousands of people through our activist-supported distribution model and I continue to meet many more amazing people who inspire and motivate me. These people should be celebrated!  I decided to share all these great encounters so you too can learn about all the amazing work that’s being done around the country. You can view my first FRESH Hero video here.

Please share your OWN local heroes with me and the FRESH community. Send us your videos! Here are the rules:

1. Make a video. Keep it short (no longer than 3min)
2. Ask three questions: What’s your name and project?  What brings you to this work or what motivates you? and What makes your work so gratifying? Feel free to improvise!
3. Upload to Vimeo or YouTube
4. Send Lisa@freshthemovie.com the link and a one paragraph description with the link to your hero’s website if there’s on
5. You’ll get a message from us if your video is posted on the FRESH website so you can share with everyone!

Best,

ana
Director, FRESH
www.FRESHthemovie.com

PS: Host a screening! It’s the best way to start the conversation about sustainable food in your community and you can gather all your FRESH Heroes in one place!

Posted on June 4, 2009 - by ana

MPR: A great harvest of food movies screening in Minneapolis

FRESH was featured along with Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis in a great piece by Minnesota Public Radio!

Hundreds of people are expected tonight and tomorrow at Minneapolis screenings of a new movie called “Fresh.” It’s the first of a string of movies due for release this summer about food, and the debate over its place in our lives.

Read the rest below the fold, or on the Minnesota Public Radio website.

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Posted on May 29, 2009 - by ana

Ana Joanes Interviewed on Huffington Post

Ana Joanes was interviewed by Kerry Truman, Co-Founder of EatingLiberally.org on the Huffington Post recently.

The front yard farming phenomenon is so hot now that People magazine recently did a story on it, “From Lawn to Lunch.” But when Michelle Obama tore up a patch of the White House lawn to plant a kitchen garden, she inadvertently fertilized another growing movement: a flourishing Agribiz campaign to portray kitchen gardeners and ‘good food movement’ advocates as dangerous zealots out to shove fresh, untainted, ie. aggressively wholesome foods down America’s collective throat and force us all to grow our own veggies–all without benefit of pesticides or chemicals.

Read the rest at Huffington Post or scroll down to read the whole interview here.

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Posted on May 25, 2009 - by ana

FireDogLake Movie Night Presents: FRESH

Ana Joanes chatted with FireDogLake readers & writers about the making of FRESH, what it means to her as a soon-to-be-mother and what we all can do to change the way America eats!  A few excerpts from the lively discussion are below, or click here to read the comments in full.

“I appreciated the emphasis on biodiversity and the discussion of the negative impact of monocultured plants and animals in Fresh..but I REALLY loved all the characters!”

“I hope all our readers interested in environmental and food issues take the time to watch it. It’s a great conversation starter on so many of the problems we face — and so many of the things that need to be tackled on a much larger scale, including the political influence involved in all of these things that makes change so difficult to achieve.
Thanks for the enormous amount of hard work that must have gone into this film.”

Full post & discussion can be read here.

Posted on May 22, 2009 - by ana

Ana Joanes on Underground Wellness Radio

Ana Joanes was interviewed by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness Radio

Do you THINK about what your eat? If not, this movie will make you think twice about what you put in your mouth and where it comes from. Ana Sofia Joanes, director of Fresh, has made one of the most important movies I have seen in some time. Her film chronicles where our food comes from, how it affects our environment, animal life, and economy. She also features several well-know stars of sustainable agriculture including Michael Pollan, Will Allen, and Joel Salatin. (more…)

Posted on May 22, 2009 - by ana

Ana Joanes on Huffington Post: New Thinking on What We're Eating

Ana Joanes writes on Huffington Post about giving birth to FRESH and the coming birth of her first child.  Here’s what she writes:

I’m six-months pregnant. And about to give birth to a movie, Fresh (I think the proper term is release.) I’m ready to let this baby out into the world, but I’m not so sure I’m ready for the other, the crying-pampers-changing- 24/7-for-the-next-20-years baby.

Making a movie might or might not be a good preparation for motherhood (filmmakers out there: comments, thoughts?) but Fresh sure changed the way I feed myself during pregnancy and how I’ll feed my baby. It’s changed the way I approach life.

Read the rest at Huffington Post, or go below the fold to read the whole piece here. (more…)

Posted on May 1, 2009 - by ana

Swine Flu & Industrial Hog Confinement Operations

Pigs pigs pigs . . .  and more pigs.  Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), in an email about the swine flu outbreak, wrote “I guess you saw where Smithfield has a 950,000 confinement hog operation in the locality at the epicenter of the outbreak.  Strange coincidence.”  Reminded me what Russ Kremer said… “When you concentrate a lot of biological organisms, whether it be rats, kids or pigs, you’re going to have problems…” (video here)

But the media is not even discussing any potential link . . . so check this “alternative” article by William Engdahl:
Flying Pigs, Tamiflu, and Factory Farms

Posted on April 14, 2009 - by ana

FRESH release!

We’re excited to announce the screening of FRESH across the United States.  FRESH is a call to action; it means to inspire its viewers to positive change, not scare them into a terrified complacency.  As such, the majority of the screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with local representatives from the sustainable food movement so audience members can learn what’s going on in their communities and get involved.  We will bring together farmers, activists, chefs, and policy-makers, all working to create a more healthy, tasty, and sustainable future.  Please join us, not just as part of an audience, but as part of a movement to better our food system, and to bring about a new vision, a new paradigm, a new reality, one that works for everyone.

Check out our list of screenings here.  If we’re not coming to your town, no worries, email us and we’ll help you organize a community screening in your town: screenings@FRESHthemovie.com.  Or you can always stream the movie on line (coming soon!).