Stories
The Precarious Alliance kicks off with a screening of the documentary “Food, Inc.�?
By Annmarie Ely
According to its director, the film Food, Inc. is not about food. It’s about something much bigger.
Robert Kenner, the filmmaker behind the Academy Award nominated documentary, came to Bucks County Oct. 7 for DelVal’s Precarious Alliance symposium and a screening of his film at The County Theater in Doylestown. A discussion with Kenner followed.
The filmmaker is the first in a series of symposium speakers who will focus on food issues, sustainability and environmental and economic issues. Food, Inc. examines the consequences that cheap, mass produced food has on workers, small businesses, consumer health, safety and the environment.
Kenner, who attended the Solebury School in Bucks County, said the movie he hoped to make was a lot different than the movie he ended up making.
Initially, a lot of corporations refused to talk to him for a film about where our food comes from. As more refused to talk, Kenner realized how important the subject was and the film took on a more complex tone.
While he set out to make a movie about food, he ended up making a movie that uses food
to demonstrate how powerful corporations are interfering with our basic rights.
The filmmaker was struck by a congressional hearing on whether or not cloned meat should be labeled. A representative of the meat industry argued that labels would be “too confusing for the consumer�? and should be left off.
“We should have a right to know what we’re choosing,�? said Kenner. “And we’re being denied that right.�?
Another moment in filming that Kenner found disturbing was hearing from a woman whose 2-year-old son died from E. coli bacteria after eating a hamburger.
“That hamburger meat sat on the shelf for more than two weeks after they knew where it came from,�? said Kenner. “I didn’t realize that could happen in our country. It was terrifying.�?
The film also addresses farmers’ rights. A Purdue chicken farmer described the dehumanizing process of running a factory-style chicken farm. She had little say in her own business, but had to stay in it to pay off debt for equipment required by Purdue. If she disagreed with a practice, like keeping chickens in the dark or refused to run her farm Purdue’s way, the corporation could terminate her contract. Several farmers in the film said they felt owned by the large companies they worked for.
The film makes it clear that corporate efficiency has lowered the price of food. But the film asks: “Can we afford cheap food?�?
According to the film, while people are spending a lower percentage of their income on food, they are spending more on medicine. According to Food Inc., one out of every three people born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes.
“This cheap food is going to hurt us even if we’re eating out of our gardens,�? said Kenner. “We’re going to have to pay for other people’s healthcare.�?
A teacher in the audience wondered what kind of world he’d be passing on to his students and asked what could be done to change the problems being discussed.
Kenner suggests we change eating habits, learn how to cook so that we know where our food comes from, buy local, help smaller farmers remain competitive and stop subsidizing food that’s unhealthy.
Whether consumers work to change the system or not, it literally cannot keep going the way it is going. Kenner thinks the system is bound to crash if nothing changes.
“That’s the frightening part,�? said Kenner. “This system could just fall of a cliff at some point.�?
Kenner thinks sky rocketing food prices and major health costs might be the end result.
Sam Earle attended the screening and saw the film for the tenth time.
“It really creates this discussion around more than just food,�? said Earle. “It’s about our whole economic system…it really touches on that.�?
DelVal freshman Brennan Dougherty found the film “unsettling.�?
“It made me want to get strange tattoos of The Bill of Rights,�? said Doughtery. “So I could point to them and say, ‘this is what’s not happening.’ The movie was about food, but really about our liberties.�?
Garett Vaisman, a DelVal sophomore studying hydroponic crop science, was seeing the movie for the second time. The part that struck Vaisman was a family farmer raising grass-fed animals, which was very different from the corn-fed animals produced for the corporate system. Customers were traveling long distances to buy the farmer’s products.
Vaisman said the scene showed that, “It is possible to be profitable and ethical.�?
Speakers explain sustainability problems while seeking solutions.
By Annmarie Ely
A diverse slate of speakers at the Precarious Alliance symposium warned of the increased damage coming from the clash between natural and man-made systems, but most expressed some optimism that the problems could be solved.
The event, hosted by Delaware Valley College from Oct. 7-9, was the first in a series of symposia that will explore ways to reduce and reverse trends of environmental degradation, economic instability and social inequity. Topics included our food systems, the environment and sustainability. The event was sponsored by PepsiCo and The Burpee Foundation with additional support from The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.
The event included speakers such as: a representative from the department of agriculture, a leader from a major food company and an author who works to address current problems with the way food is being produced and marketed. About 300 people attended.
Above all, the purpose of the symposium was to create a dialog and seek solutions.
“Civil dialogue is one of the things that is lacking in our society,�? said DelVal President Dr. Joseph S. Brosnan.
Dr. Brosnan said sustainability is “necessary, but not sufficient.�? He said we also need to focus on “restoration for the damage that’s already been done.�?
Congressman Patrick J. Murphy spoke on the importance of land and water conservation and the possibilities green energy companies have for revitalizing town economies.
Michael Mandelbaum, a Johns Hopkins professor and an author, spoke about the dangers of climate change and the challenges of producing, consuming and transporting goods in a way that is more responsible.
“Technical innovation is our salvation. And really our only salvation,�? said Mandelbaum, who believes in using high gas taxes to drive shifts to alternative energy sources.
He went through possible fuel alternatives, including hydrogen, ethanol and electric. Mandelbaum said innovation in battery technology will be “the frontier for weaning ourselves from our dependence on oil.�?
He predicted that coal, a cheap source of fuel and a major contributor to climate change, will continue to be used widely. He suggested finding ways to “clean coal�? to make burning it less toxic.
Marion Nestle, a New York University nutrition, food studies and public health professor, gave a presentation entitled, “Choking on Our Failing Food System.�? Nestle is the author of several books, including “Food Politics.�?
Nestle critiqued the food system, touching on problems of obesity, processed food, marketing unhealthy food to children and food safety. She acknowledged that people have some personal responsibility for their own health, but said the entire food system is severely flawed.
According to Nestle, the U.S. produces twice as many calories per day as the average person should consume. This creates what she calls a “hideously competitive�? market for food companies that results in obesity.
Investors are expecting food companies’ profits to increase quarterly, which means they have to sell more. This, Nestle said, “puts industry goals at odds with the public health.�?
According to Nestle, 81 percent of the average food company’s dollar is spent on marketing.
She also addressed the lack of real testing behind the health claims on our food packaging.
“Just give a moment’s thought to what a clinical trial of multigrain Cheerios would look like,�? Nestle said.
Chuck Alpuche, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations for PepsiCo and a DelVal alum, presented a food company’s perspective.
PepsiCo is one of largest food and beverage companies in our nation, he said. It produces a variety of products including snack foods, Naked Juice, Tropicana Orange Juice and Gatorade.
“Financial achievement can and must go hand in hand with sustainability,�? said Alpuche. He said his company has a “performance with a purpose�? philosophy. PepsiCo’s 2015 sustainability goals include reducing water and electric consumption by 20 percent and reducing fuel consumption by 25 percent.
“We’re proud to be one of the first companies to publicly state consumption targets,�? said Alpuche.
The company has launched the popular Pepsi Refresh Project, which provides grants to people who submit ideas to improve their communities.
Michael Gallis, an expert on large-scale metropolitan regional development strategies, presented the perspective of a planner. His presentation looked at the evidence of climate change and the need to create a better balance between human built systems and natural systems.
He used a map to show the rapid, extreme devastation of forests caused by industrialized society.
Gallis said there is a need to look at the big picture and rethink the way we plan so that we can meet human needs without destroying our natural world.
Later on Friday, a panel that included Don Winkelman, DelVal’s Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, Executive Vice President of PennAg Industries Association Christian Herr and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Brian Snyder took questions and discussed their views on how to achieve sustainable agriculture.
There were three breakout sessions on different topics, including local food systems, ways to reduce food waste and the infrastructure needed to support local food.
“I thought the speakers were diverse, interesting and well chosen,�? said Meryl Lubchansky of the Bucks County Foodshed Alliance. Gallis made her wonder if “we are thinking fast enough about these issues.�?
Nobel Peace Prize nominee warns about climate change
By Annmarie Ely
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and an advocate for Inuit human rights in the Arctic, closed the Precarious Alliance symposium Oct. 9 by presenting a picture of how climate change and pollution from the United States are impacting her culture and the world.
Watt-Cloutier has traveled the world sharing the story of her culture to highlight the urgent need for global action.
She said that climate change and pollution have to be looked at as human rights issues because they are causing harm to the Inuit people’s way of life.
Watt-Cloutier said rising sea levels have destroyed many homes in Alaska and some people are being forced to relocate to New Zealand and other places. To show urgency, she pointed to the new ice island that has broken off from Greenland.
“The change is not coming,�? said Watt-Cloutier. “It has arrived.�?
The Inuit people are a hunting society whose transportation requires ice and snow.
Transportation becomes dangerous as ice thins and melts. This affects the Inuit’s ability to hunt, which provided them with a healthy diet. Inuit are suffering from increased rates of diabetes and heart problems as they become dependent on foreign food.
Hunting, Watt-Cloutier said, has an importance to the Inuit that goes beyond food. It is used to pass down lessons to younger generations.
“We don’t separate the technical lessons of hunting from character building lessons,�? said Watt-Cloutier. “Nature teaches you wonderful character skills that enable you to have sound judgment. If you lose that, the problems escalate.�?
There are problems with substance abuse and high suicide rates among Inuit youth that Watt-Cloutier believes are being brought on by a loss of culture.
“This incredibly resilient culture is not being passed down in a time when we need it,�? she said.
Watt-Cloutier said climate change is not just harmful to the Inuit way of life. The Earth, she said, needs the Arctic to maintain its temperature. She described that region as the “air conditioner of the planet.�?
She urged the audience to make connections between people and issues and develop a better connection to the natural world.
“Now is the time for ourselves and our leaders to take very bold action. Now is the time to reconnect,�? said Watt-Cloutier. “This disconnect is the reason we are debating climate change in the first place.�?
Before Watt-Cloutier spoke there were breakout sessions on the topics of water use and the impact of genetically modified organisms on the food system.
“She’s the perfect person to bring together much of what has been discussed at this event,�? said Clifford C. David, president of the Heritage Conservancy.
Symposium Coordinator Ann Brady said she was pleased to see that the event “generated excitement among the audience�? and “energized people.�? Brady hopes that people will take that excitement with them after the symposium and work for change.
“People (in the United States) can’t look out their windows and see the dangers of climate change for themselves,�? said author Michael Mandelbaum earlier in the event. “They’re not likely to see these changes for decades, when it will be too late.�?
PepsiCo, The Burpee Foundation and The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation sponsored the event.