One of the most anticipated films, to me at least, will be screening this weekend at the Walker Art Center. If you read the New York Times or follow the festivals, Our Daily Bread will sound familiar. But for most this film will be coming out of nowhere due to the fact that it does not fit neatly into the US film distribution schemata. It is a brutally honest documentary about the current state of food production. To quote Manohla Dargis' review from the NYT "Our Daily Bread can be extremely difficult to watch, but the film’s formal elegance, moral underpinning and intellectually stimulating point of view also make it essential."Working at an organic produce warehouse, I am only too aware of the politics of food facing our country and the world. In my opinion, the issues involved in food safety and distribution are going to out way those of global warming very soon. Recent outbreaks of E. coli in both conventional and organic greens have brought to light just how complicated our growing, harvesting, cleaning, packaging and distribution system is, and how reliant we are on it. The meat industry is no better.
The film was made by Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, and, for better or for worse, uses footage from European industrial food production. Go see the film. Buy local when you can.
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