Captain Cartwheel

A big thank you is owed to Ali, a friend of mine who is tackling a MPH*.  She forwarded me information about a film festival taking place at the U last week.  I'll spare you all the details of my inner mind - this time - and give you the Cliff's Notes verstion: I ended up whole-heartedly embrassing my inner geek and attended three of the five nights.  Inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and the fact that I friggin' love eating, I attended Food, Nutrition, & the Environment and also Obesity.  In the interest of rewetting my appetite in the sexual health field, I was  lured by the promise of vintage sexual health films and attended the Sexual Health night as well. 

This isn't my typical outing, as you have probably guessed by my many fitness related posts compared to anything at all even remotely educational.  Not only did I attempt something new-ish, I attended the first night alone!  While I have gone to many a movie alone, I am excited to say I ventured to a lecture/film festival/educational activity alone.

While the Obesity and Sexual Health nights were interesting and company-filled with Gretchen & Kizzo, I must say I found the nutrition one to be particularly interesting/moving/thought provoking/educational.  It opened with a film created by a MPH student focusing on the food schools, particularly schools local to the Twin Cities.  I was struck by the stark difference between the Mpls school with no kitchen facilities and the Saint Paul school with not only a kitchen but a garden with fresh vegetables.  The Mpls school relied soley on reheating food - mostly pizza - while the Saint Paul school food looked practically gormet -although being it is still school lunch one can only guess how it actually tastes.    

The main portion of the evening centered around a documentary called Food Fight by Chris Taylor.  If you can get your hands on this film I highly recommend watching it for yourself.  It is an indepth look at the evolution of food over the last 60 years including the politics, mass-industrialization of food, and the true food revolution that has been taking place for many years.  

I found the film itself and the panel discussion following to be empowering.    It got me excited to hit up the farmer's market more often and try to buy more items - especially local items - at the co-op rather than the big box stores.  I've also decided to pick up Michale Pollan's In Defense of Food and further explore the food choices I make.

I want to write more about this, but am on a time crunch, so here are some resources mentioned in the film that I have been meaning to look into more:

Growing Power - started by Will Allen 
Edible School Yard - Chez Panisse Foundation
Edible School Yard - New Orleans
The Lunch Box - Resources for schools (a new face to the web site will be released in June)

To be continued... 

*MPH is not a speed limit sign, rather a Master's in Public Health.