Film Databases
316 Natural Resources - Michigan State University
Contact: Philip H. Howard, Assistant Professor, Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS)
316 Natural Resources - Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: 517-355-8431
http://www.msu.edu/~howardp
Media that Matters
http://mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm_good_food
Michigan State University
Database of introductory books and films/documentaries related to food and agriculture (mostly from the last 7 to 8 years).
http://www.msu.edu/~howardp/booksfilms.html
UC Berkeley's Media Resource Center
On Food: Production, Consumption, Politics
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/fooddocs.html
Films - back to top
Asparagus: A Stalk-Umentery
For thirty years, Oceana County Michigan has been the Asparagus Capital of the World. Now its residents and family farms take on the U.S. War on Drugs, Free Trade, and a Fast Food Nation, all to save their beloved 'roots'.
http://www.asparagusthemovie.com/
Beyond Organic: The Vision Of Fairview Gardens
Tells the story of Fairview Gardens and its struggle to survive in the face of rapid suburban development. It draws a sharp contrast between community-supported agriculture and conventional chemical farming.
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/bo.html
Decontructing Supper
A journey into the billion-dollar battle to control food production.
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/decon.html
Fast Food Nation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460792
Fed Up
Genetic Engineering, Industrial Agriculture and Sustainable Alternatives.
http://www.wholesomegoodness.org
King Corn
This is a twofold journey: the story of how two college buddies learned about their agricultural heritage, and the tale of how kernels of corn have insidiously worked their way into America's diet.
http://www.kingcorn.net
Life Running Out Of Control
Bertram Verhag’s film offers a thorough examination of the issues surrounding the genetic manipulation of plants, animals and human beings.
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/lroc.html
My Fathers Garden
This film is about the use and misuse of technology on the American farm telling the story of how synthetic chemicals have changed farming and farmers.
http://www.mirandaproductions.com/garden/
Seeds of Hope: Feeding The World One Community At A Time
About rural communities around the world that are using community-based approaches to battle food insecurity. A woman’s group in South Africa starts small vegetable gardens to feed their families, an NGO in Cambodia that starts a rice seed credit bank and nutrition education, a profile of Patchwork Family Farms in Missouri and a community research project in Colombia that helps farmers produce food more effectively. 4 sections – total 24 minutes. Producer: Sarah Hesterman, Creative Realization, [media for social change].
http://www.creativerealization.com
Tableland
A culinary expedition in search of the people, place and taste of North American small scale, sustainable food production.
http://www.p1-productions.com/tableland.html
The Accountant
It's a devastating, searing, off-beat look at the demise of the family farm.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222675
The Future Of Food
This film by Deborah Garcia offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
http://www.thefutureoffood.com/
The Gleaners And I
It’s about the practice - now threatened - of people gleaning left-behind produce from harvested fields, mostly a European thing. The film even gets into the modern version of gleaning - dumpster diving!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247380
The Global Gardener with Bill Mollison
4, ½ segments about permaculture around the world.
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/booksvid/vid%20dvd%20cd.htm
The Real Dirt On Farmer John
A film that charts Farmer John’s astonishing journey from farm boy to counter-culture rebel to the son who almost lost the family farm to a beacon of today’s booming organic farming movement.
http://www.farmerjohnmovie.com
Series - back to top
Chefs A'Field
39 episodes putting farmers and food issues center stage, by taking the nation’s best chefs out of the kitchen and onto family farms across this country to see the real work, love, passion, lifestyle, and labor that goes into growing good, sustainable food for America’s tables.
http://www.chefsafield.com/
Chefs A'Field - Kids On The Farm
Now in it’s third season, Kids on the Farm takes the nation’s best chefs – and their kids – out to the source, to learn where their food comes from, to meet the people who passionately grow their food, and finally – into the kitchen where they partake in the creation of a family meal. The series companion book features kid-friendly cooking tips, ideas for supporting sustainability, sourcing notes, health and nutrition information, and one of the most comprehensive arrangements to date, of activities designed to encourage families to engage and share in the joys of food, cooking, and farming, together.
http://www.chefsafield.com/
Documentary Shots
For more information on both contact Heidi Hanson, Warner Hanson Television
http://www.warnerhanson.com/
How To Make Pizza
This story is about how making a pizza can be good for the environment. "How To Make A Pizza" features George Schenk whose mantra is to use only local and organic ingredients from farmers and artisans close to home.
Lunatic Farmer
Farmer Joel Salatin is considered by many as the "high priest of the pasture." Restaurant reviewers say Chef Cathal Armstrong "steeps into another reality using local ingredients…to produce dishes that are subtly, intriguingly unique." As the two connect on film, along with Armstrong's kids, Eve 7 and Eammon 4, on the rolling pastures of Joel Salatin’s idyllic Polyface Farm, we get a lesson in where our food comes from and how to care for the land.
Seasoned With Spirit
5-part PBS series about various Native American people and their traditional foods.
Loretta Oden
Rt. 4, Box 81
Tecumseh, OK 74873
shedreams2@mac.com.
http://www.nativetelecom.org/program_sws.html