Produced by Lynn Gillespie
Directed by Jay Canode
2009- The Living Farm & The Locavore Movie
Reviewed by CC Staff
“Once upon a time, all human beings were locavores, and everything we ate was a gift of the Earth. To have something to devour is a blessing – let’s not forget it.” – Jessica Prentice
With this quote begins the film Locavore, produced and filmed primarily in Colorado’s North Fork Valley, home to some of the best peaches, apples and other produce in the state if not the country.
The term “locavore,” coined in 2005 by the author of the above quote, refers to someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius of their home – usually no more than 100 miles.
Why would anyone trouble themselves with such limitations when there are virtual cornucopias of ready-to-eat foods from all corners of the globe readily available at the nearest Safeway or WalMart Superstore?
The answer is one of the primary reasons for this film. From agribusiness, pesticides, local economics, transportation costs and overall quality of food, the film lays out a mighty good case for growing your own or purchasing your edibles from your neighborhood farmer.
Using colorful footage of farms, farmers markets, backyard gardens and interviews with local food producers as well as distributors and nutrition experts, the film explores the pratfalls of our modern eating habits, such as genetically modified foods (GMOs), food additives, shipping costs and loss of taste and nutrition that accompanies food which, according to the filmmakers, travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to our tables.
It links community cost benefits of support for local agriculture and shows encouraging trends in the growth of farmers’ markets as well as awareness of what we put in ours and our childrens’ bodies.
The film, which took about a year to produce, is well researched and is laid out in segments detailing different aspects of the locavore movement and acts as a guide for citizens to implement similar ideas into their lives as well as their communities.
Fans of the Colorado-based bluegrass band Sweet Sunny South, will enjoy the film’s soundtrack which was produced by Bill Powers, one of the mainstays of that group.
The goal of the film, aside from spreading the gospel of local eating, is to raise money for the Living Farm Community Farm School in Paonia, the brainchild of it’s producer Lynn Gillsepie, whose goal is to help educate and train young people to become future sustainable farmers.
She believes that our nation will require nearly 30 million local farmers in order to feed ourselves in a local, fossil-free manner.
Among the distribution goals of the producers is to have the film available in “every library in the U.S.” as well as donation sponsorships in Junior and Senior High Schools.
At 103 minutes long, the film does tend toward redundancy and could just as easily make its points in about an hour, but the information is thoughtful and well presented.
For more information and to obtain copies of the film visit: www.locavoremovie.com or call 970-527-6221.
