McNeilFilmAnnotation7

Title: What’s on Your Plate? Director: Catherine Gund Release year: 2009


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

The central argument of //what’s on Your Plate?// is that people need to change and improve their eating habits if they want to have any hope in having healthy enjoyable lives. Many people that live in cities don’t have access to fresh organic food. Much of the food they have access too is processed and contains many unhealthy additives. Also the narrators of the movie make a carful point of demonstrating how much energy is consumed by the transportation of food from exotic locations, when it could simply be grown right outside of city boundary and transported in.


 * How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example?**

The argument that the narrators made was that individuals need to have a complete understanding of how there body react to the food that they put in their bodies. If they do not then there may be some awful consequences. There wasn’t much scientific evidence of these facts but there were many testimonies from people who had health problems from years of poor eating. Also the narrators promoted organic healthy food and provided some statistics to portray the availability of healthy organic food in cities. This is a particular problem in cities since they are no nearby farms that can produce healthy organic fruits and vegetables. This was another point that the narrators stressed through the film by speaking with government officials about the number of farm markets within cities and how the public is made aware of the healthy food available to them.


 * What sustainability problems does the film draw out?**

The film discusses a number of sustainability problems. For instance a major problem that the movie points out is that most of the food we eat comes from faraway places. This means that huge amounts of energy are used to ship food from one side of the planet to the other. Also there are many pesticides and other chemicals used on crops that are may have negative effects on the individual consuming them. These are major sustainability problems for a number of reasons. First it’s wasting a lot of precious energy which doesn’t necessarily need to be consumed. Also the additives used in food contribute to empty calories and other health related problems.


 * What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?**

I was very impressed with the way the narrators covered many different aspects of an unhealthy diet. Everything from the energy consumed to get food to the store, to how your body develops diabetes after years of an unhealthy diet. I thought this was very compelling because instead of just focusing on one aspect of food, the movie covered the systematic problems that are related with food. The matrix that makes up this problem is very complex and complicated, I enjoyed how the film looked at all of these aspects and presented the problem in a fairly simple way. This made their argument more reasonable as well as understandable, so I took their point to heart.


 * What audiences does the film best address? Why?**

The best audience for this film would be anyone who has an interest to improve their eating habits, or anyone who feels that the food that we serve children at school is acceptable. I had never spent much time thinking of the food that schools serve but, after viewing the film I was appalled at the food that kids need to eat. Not just that it’s all pre-cooked or taste bad, I just couldn’t believe how unhealthy the food that schools serve when there are trying to promote healthy living as well as give kids sustenance to able them to learn through the school day.


 * 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.**

The film suggest more farmer markets in cities, also the film suggest healthier food for children at schools. If kids are more aware of how and what they eat they will develop better eating habits as they get older


 * What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out?**

Local Harvest. Org is a website that provides information on community supported agriculture. Community supported agriculture is when individuals pay a regular fee to a farm and then that individual gets a certain percentage of the farm’s crops. This was a proposed solution in the film and I thought it was rather creative. I myself am always looking for convenient ways to acquire fruits and vegetables. Often times I can’t make it to farmer’s markets. Many of the farms that participate in community supported agriculture will deliver food that you specifically ask for to your home. This is ideal for me since I’m not able to leave the house on the weekends. The fees to reserve a small share of the crop is quite reasonable as well so I believe next spring I will contact one my local farms and have fresh vegetables delivered to my door every week!
 * http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ **

This is a website that promotes: greenmarkets, gardens, recycling, and education in New York City. There’s a great deal of information as well as contact information for influential people affiliated with the greenmarkets around the city. I had never heard of the term Greenmarket before reading it on this website. Greenmarkets are farmer’s markets that accept food stamps and other vouchers for people that may not have cash. There are also a number of sustainability indicatives that the website addresses. For instance they offer compost collection at all of the green markets, as well as clothing recycling. This is a great way of spreading awareness as well as creating functions within a standard farmer’s market so people will be more likely to go there because they can do a lot more than just buy carrots or lettuce.
 * http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket**