Documentary Screening Inspiring and Educational

Last Thursday, Nick Versteeg arrived on campus to show his documentary "Food Security: It's In Your Hands". Although we started with a few technical hiccups, I believe the event was quite a success! It was great to see interested students and community members out at this event. The documentary was wonderful and I came away feeling inspired. As an environmental studies student I often become overwhelmed by environmental issues and it becomes hard not to shut-down and easy to give up hope. This film has re-energized my drive and passion for food security and ensured me that others are just as pissed off.

The film asks the question, can we feed the world the way we farm today?  The U.N. estimates that there will be 9 billion people by 2050. The answer is NO. The film introduces us to a variety of characters. Farmers who have converted their commercial farms to organic farms, young farmers, dairy farmers, authors, soil specialists, and beekeepers. Cheap imports undermine local farmers and makes it impossible for them to compete on the market. Only 4% of the population in BC are farmers, the rest are "urbanites". That means if we want to encourage food security and local, sustainable agriculture we require more people to get into farming. Farming isn't the most sexy or glamorous career for students emerging from university to pick.Young farmers Heather Walker and Brock Mcloed bought ten acres of farmland in Cowichan Valley and turned it into Makaria Farm. They remind the audience that environmentally sustainable farming is financially viable and a positive career choice for those who want to live out their values. I learned a great deal about the importance of soil and what is happening to our bees.

Gardens of Destiny

Gardens of Destiny is a documentary examining sustainable agriculture and solutions to attaining sustainable food production in North America. If you are interested in broader issues of industrial agriculture this documentary is a good resource.

Synopsis:

• Filmmaker, Jocelyn Demers meets Dan Jason on Salt Spring Island on Canada's west coast. Dan is an organic gardener with a fantastic selection of seeds, vegetables, grains, medicinal plants and flowers. He is also the head of the grassroots organization called the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of Canadian gardeners who are preserving as much plant diversity as is possible. Mr. Jason has been a long time critic of the non-organic food system in North America. Jocelyn Demers explores Dan's garden and seed world and investigates what other experts from the agriculture milieu think about Dan's observations.