Saturday, November 19, 2011

What's On Your Plate?

      Last weekend, Punky and I watched an excellent documentary together that I want to recommend to everyone.

      It's called What's On Your Plate? and it follows two 11 year olds on their journey to find out where the food they eat comes from.     

       The film starts when these city kids visit Ohio and discover just how much better a fresh tomato tastes.  They are able to visit the local farm where the tomato was grown, and they are instantly interested.  Curiosity piqued, they return to the city on a mission to find out just where their food comes from.

      This is an informative and fun documentary; I highly recommend it as a way to introduce kids to the concepts of nutritious eating and a little food politics.  It talks a lot about school lunches and where the food comes from and shows real kids getting involved in getting real food into their school.  For kids, this is a great, engaging movie because it's told from their perspective by characters they can relate to.

       It touches on a wide array of topics, from Farmer's Markets and global pollution to diabetes, all in a simple, interesting, and engaging manner Punky loved.

       But this is not just a documentary for kids. It is an inspirational look at getting involved for people of all ages.  As a parent, it totally renewed my dedication to getting Punky involved in our garden and all the other aspects of where our food comes from.  As a person, it reminded me of many of the reasons I take Ethical Eating so seriously.

      If you're already well versed in ethical eating and food politics, this may not be the film for you.  Then again, it still just might.  If you're an average everyday person, though, you really should watch this movie.  And if you have kids, they should really watch it with you.

       You should also check out the website for the movie, which contains even more information and fun and games for the kids!

      This is what Punky had to say about What's On Your Plate?:

      What's On Your Plate? rocked!  When I grow up, I want to be a farmer and have a job and two kids.  And I want to eath healthy food all my life.  When I get older I want my own garden!  My favorite part of the movie was when they went to the Angel family's garden.  I didn't know that it was so hard for farmers to put their carrots in schools.  I learned all that carrots have to go through to be in schools.  Feeding your body right is very important.  What's on your plate?