Here is the second part of the interview, where I talk about the Farm Bill and our need to pay attention to agricultural issues:

KFAI Interview Pt. 2

Before I went to Minneapolis, I gave an interview via phone with Amanda Balagur of KFAI, Minnesota Public Radio. Amanda asked me when I started and what inspired me to make FOOD FIGHT.

KFAI Interview Part 1

Marquee at the Riverview Theater

I wanted to report back after our wonderful screening event in Minneapolis on Sept 16th. David Nicholson of Midtown Farmers Market hosted us, and if anyone is wondering about the logistics of hosting a FOOD FIGHT screening, our friends in Minneapolis have shown us a very successful example.

The first key is lining up local partners to share the cost but also to extend the outreach. In Minneapolis we had “Gardening Matters,” as a co-host and 8 other affiliated groups to help. One of the goals of FOOD FIGHT, and what we call the FOOD FIGHT REVOLUTION,  is to gather together as many disparate voices as we can, (all of whom are committed to improving our food supply) and get them into one room to watch the film, and then to have a reception afterwards where we can all connect and share ambitions for the future of our food system. This is one of the elements that made the Minneapolis event so exciting. We had farmers, chefs, policy advocates, environmental groups, food justice activists, fair trade retailers, and organic grocers all committed to help bring their members to the screening. The net result was a packed house and a great Q&A.

The second key is getting support from local press. David Nicholson did a great job in lining up newspaper articles (here) and radio interviews (here) in the weeks and importantly, days before our screening. We also had posters up in all the retail partners that helped sponsor us. The biggest advantage is that the patrons of the Midtown Farmers Market, who are our target demographic, were exposed to our advertising every time they shopped at the market in the weeks before the screening.

I am grateful to the dedicated Minneapolis progressive food community for coming out and supporting us. I will be writing more about this date in the next few days, and talking about some specific people who are doing great work in Minneapolis.

FOOD FIGHT will screen Wednesday, Sept 16th at the Riverview Theatre at 7:30pm. Thank you to David Nicholson and the Mid-Town Farmer’s Market for hosting this screening. I will be there to answer questions about the film and talk with local food personalities after the screening.

FOOD FIGHT will screen Wednesday, Sept 9th at 7:30pm at the Cocteau Theatre in Santa Fe at the first ever Slow Money: From the Ground Up Conference. The conference itself will run from Wed 9/9 through Fri 9/11 at the Railroad Yards in Santa Fe.

Here is the Charlotte Allen Opinion piece in the LA Times from several days ago: Keep Your Self-Righteous Fingers Off my Processed Food.

Here is my reaction:

To the LA Times:

Re: Charlotte Allen “Keep Your Self-Righteous Fingers off My Processed Food”

If a little knowledge is a dangerous weapon, Charlotte Allen has finally shown us where the WMD’s are.

In the pushback against the small amount of progress we have made in improving our food supply, writers like Charlotte Allen do a gross disservice by distorting, belittling, and ultimately misunderstanding the work of solid progressive journalists (like Michael Pollan and others) who actually know what they are talking about.

If Ms. Allen had bothered to lift up and look under the rock of cheap food before the Haagen-Dazs-induced hypoglycemic daze set in, she would know that the American public are paying 3 times for this “cheap” food. The first price is at the Safeway, the second price is the tax taken from her paycheck that pays millionaire “industrial” farmers (who have sucked up farm land and displaced family farms) to grow corn and soy. The last time we pay, all of us, is when we can’t afford health coverage because the current system is so weighted down by food-related chronic diseases, like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

So, please, Charlotte, put the spoon down and back away from the keyboard. Words can do harm when, ill informed, they masquerade as facts.