CA+-+Annotation+6+-+Fresh

Claudia Anzini Annotation 6 4/23/14 //Fresh // Word Count: 1,614


 * 1. Title, director, and release year? **

//Fresh //. Directed by Ana Sofia Joanes. Released 2009.

 **2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

The film //Fresh// focuses on a more sustainable side of the food industry. It follows local organic farmers, in-city greenhouse farmers, and local grocery stores in their daily lives and shows that it is possible to make and sell food sustainably. While the film has an overall upbeat and positive tone, it does also tap into the struggles that some small farmers face because of the current industrial practices of large corporations.


 * 3. How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal? **

//Fresh // focuses on the emotional appeal and relatability of food, but not in the typical way. Instead of drawing only on the negatives of the food industry and how bad some current farming practices are, it takes a lighter approach to the subject and follows farmers and store owners who have already made positive changes. By showing these changes and the beneficial impacts they have had, it helps the viewer get a sense of hope that this is possible to grow large-scale and have other people in the food industry put into practice. By following these farmers and getting to see how their farms are doing now, proves this idea of organic sustainable farming as a positive thing. Also, one of the farmers, Will Allen, who owns Growing Power, discusses the scientific facts behind everything he does, from the worms in the compost to the use of aquaponics to raise fish.


 * 4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out; political, legal, economic, technological, media and informational,organizational, educational, behavioral, cultural, or ecological? **

 This film has two major problems it touches on; educational and economical. Currently, many farmers have the education to do exactly what they are doing, industrial farming. By educating the next generation of farmers in organic sustainable farming practices, will result in major changes to the current farming standards. Smaller farms will become less dependent on large companies to provide grain that has a 1-year lifespan and be able to dictate what crops they want to grow on their land. They will also be able to raise animals, such as cows and chickens, in a more sustainable fashion. They won’t be expected to raise a specific amount of animals by a deadline. One of the farmers interviewed during the film, Russ Kremer, recounts how he used to raise pigs by the traditional standard, in crowded spaces with lots of antibiotics. One day he wounded by one of his pigs and nearly died from an infection transferred from the pig. Had the pig been raised organic, it would not have had an antibiotic resistant disease. Kremer has since raised his pigs antibiotic free and has seen good results. If farmers, like Kremer, had the education to know these possible side-effects that have non-organic crops or raising animals in an industrial setting, then they might be more encouraged to change their practices. Education of the farmers is not the only downfall of this system. The consumer is at one of the biggest disadvantages of the industrial food system. They don’t know what chemicals go into their food or how it could affect them years down the road. By learning of these adverse effects to their health and debunking the mysteries behind eating organic and local, consumers could make better food choices for themselves.

 The economics of owning a farm or a grocery store also plays a huge role in the current food industry. Most farms, unless already owned by the family for generations, begin with large amounts of debt. To combat this debt, farmers will sign contracts with large companies to grow their crops every year or raise their chickens. The film followed one family who raised industrial chickens. The chicken farmers didn’t seem happy with their jobs or with themselves. The problem is that being a farmer is not a lucrative business. People are always trying to find tastier food at the cheapest prices possible. This is obtained by purchasing food from large industrial companies, without second thought to how that food was grown or raised. For these practices to change, farming would have to become more affordable to the farmer and more lucrative so they can sustain themselves as well.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I really enjoyed the positive tones of the film and how farmers who are doing these positive things were the ones interviewed. Often food films follow industries and what they are doing wrong. While this has the major appeal of not making me want to eat ever again, I don’t know where to go or how to make changes in my diet. After watching //Fresh//, I feel as though I can go out and purchase local and organic and feel good about spending a little extra money to support the farmers who are trying to make a difference.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> **6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Overall, I really enjoyed this film and found very little of it to not be compelling. I think the only part of the film I was not convinced by was the interviews conducted with the industrial chicken farmers. I think that they needed to be in the film to really give viewers a sense of why organic and local farming is so important, but the manner in which the chicken farmers came across seemed almost theatrical and not true to who they were as farmers. This didn’t really detract from the overall theme of the film, but it didn’t help its argument either.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">7. What audiences does the film best address? Why? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I think this film is best suited for all audiences. It was easy to follow and understand and I believe that everyone who watches it will find something different to take away from the film. It presents solutions in an easy to follow manner and doesn’t leave the viewer questioning what they should do with all the information they were given.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I think the film as it is makes a good public educational tool. If the film were to focus more on the farming techniques and less on the benefits, it would be better suited to those who want to implement those practices. I would like to see this film take local farming one step further though. If the creators or supporters of this film created online tools that went along with the film to educate people on how to start small gardens at home or where they can purchase local foods, it would help viewers put these ideas into practice.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The film suggests many points of intervention, but the main idea is to get away from industrial farming, grocery store chains, and consuming industrial produces foods. Farmers should raise animals without antibiotics and in a way more similar to how they would be found in nature. It also suggests that farmers look into more sustainable and organic ways of farming. It proves that farms can even be supported in the most urban of settings and don’t require large open farmland space to exist. This means that as we continue to grow and develop land for residential and commercial purposes, we can still grow food locally for people occupying these spaces. The film touched on the idea of implementing local grocery stores to sell local grown products. By doing so, it can encourage farmers to get away from growing and selling crops for large companies such as Wal-Mart.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.) **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> One thing that really stood out to me during this film was the wide variety of products that Growing Power produced, including fish. After having watched //End of the Line//, I was very skeptical about the way the fish were being raised. Upon investigating, the idea behind using the fish to enrich the water for the crops seems like a mutually beneficial system. The concern I had though was about the feed being given to the fish. Fish farms, at first glance, sounds like the perfect solution to the world’s fishing crisis, but in reality, the food being given to the fish creates a similarly unsustainable venture. At Growing Power, they have done their research on what the Tilapia and Yellow Perch consume in the wild. Tilapia are normally herbivores, which does well for this system. At Growing Power, they are fed a combination of duckweed, which is grow specifically for them, salad greens, and algae from the side of the tank. Yellow Perch, which was once an abundant fish in Lake Michigan, are bottom feeders who prefer minnows and worms. In this system, the Perch are able to consume the worms used for composting and soldier fly larva, also found in the compost. By giving the fish organic inputs that come straight from the greenhouse, Growing Power is able to produce an organic healthy fish product.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Citations __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Aquaponics." //Growing Power Inc.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://www.growingpower.org/aquaponics.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Growing Fish in Greenhouses." //YouTube//. YouTube, 6 May 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qZPwBPAqks>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Growing Power: How They Work Their Miracles." //La Vida Locavore//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014 <http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=2570>.