Saturday Night at the Movies

Joining me on the panel were Kim Tait of Tait Farm Foods, Chef Harrison Schailey of  Harrison’s Wine Grill and Catering, Mark Ott of the Bald Eagle Area School District, and Brian Snyder of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. About 75 of the audience members stayed to hear what we had to say and to ask questions inspired by the movie.

My take on the movie? Very thought-provoking; you ought to go see it. As with any movie filmed to make a point, the observations are not always balanced. Nonetheless, there is much to consider and many openings for discussion that are raised by the film.

Much of the movie addressed the consequences – real and perceived – of the industrialization of our food supply. Reading the works of Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, both featured throughout the movie, will prepare you for this perspective. In fact, much of the movie emerges directly from the chapters of their books.

One of the questions raised by audience members and other panelists was a concern that our role as a land grant university working in the public good must be tainted by doing work that is supported by industry. The focus on industrial food production in Food, Inc. and in other media has created a sense that we in the public universities must be a wholly owned subsidiary of large agribusiness. While I can’t speak for all land grant universities, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has spent between $83 million and $90 million per year on research in each of the last five years, and the average amount of industry funding in those expenditures has been just slightly more than $1 million per year. This proportion was a surprise to most in the audience. While industry support and collaboration are critically important to us, we are careful to build in checks and balances with all funding sources, including industry.

Proponents and opponents of the message of Food, Inc. actually share many common interests. For example, all share the goal of fresh, nutritious food as an objective. Talking to a Pennsylvania farmer who produces green beans on a commercial scale for a local Pennsylvania company was eye-opening. He told me that he has a window of just hours for when his crop can be delivered to the processing plant. This year he is doing all of his bean harvests on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – often at night – because that’s when his contract specifies harvest and delivery. The green beans that go into a frozen or canned product are generally less than eight hours from being on the bean plant. This easily matches the freshness of produce at many farmers’ markets. Puts frozen and canned goods in a different light for me!

The most important outcome of the discussion panel following the State College showing of Food, Inc. was the civil conversation that ensued. All of us have passion for our positions, but when we sit together and explore our similarities and differences, a healthy respect for alternative viewpoints emerges. Our food system will be well-served by these conversations.