Ingredients, like Fresh, another documentary previously screened by the Plow to Plate film series, celebrates the movers and shakers of the alternative food movement: sustainable farmers, restaurateurs and chefs who purchase from them, and consumers who support the entire supply chain.
But while Fresh spends most of its time down on the farm with philosopher-farmer Joel Salatan (understandably, he’s a charismatic, charming, and a powerful spokesman for traditional methods of food production) or with the equally fascinating former basketball player turned urban farmer Will Allen, Ingredients meanders, dropping in at farms, restaurants, farmers markets, and even homes, never remaining anywhere too long, like a house guest mindful of not overstaying their welcome.
Ingredients does pay tribute to some of these important pioneers. A semester abroad in France where she discovered local food markets was the inspiration for Alice Waters’ groundbreaking restaurant, Chez Panisse. But to replicate that experience, initially Waters had to hire a forager to visit farms and educate potential suppliers. Another prominent figure, French chef Jean-Louis Palladin, whose motto was “grow for the flavor,” also helped farmers by insisting on high quality ingredients, which helped to grow demand – even if this meant paying more.
But the focus of this film, its true stars really, as its name implies, are the ingredients themselves, both raw and unadorned in their natural state, as well as beautifully prepared, presented and filmed on the table. It’s a good thing that Plow to Plate always provides some healthy and tasty snacks and beverages for noshing because, rest assured, this film will whet your appetite, even if you arrive fully fed.
Beautifully prepared food takes time. Ingredients celebrates the act of cooking, as well as consumption. We are educated by a fast food system that cooking is drudgery. Americans spend less time preparing their food, under 15 minutes per meal on average, than any other nation. Ingredients disabuses us of this idea. The average viewer may not be able to reproduce some of the attractive dishes showcased in the movie, but they may head straight to the produce section afterwards with a renewed feeling that time in the kitchen is well spent.
Indeed, pervasive throughout Ingredients is the acknowledgement that sustainable agriculture is really about both the people and the ingredients and the connections that develop between producers, product, and consumers by moving away from an industrial, commodity-based food system. The farmers who employ these methods develop a greater sense of responsibility for their animals, plants, and the soil that sustains them. The chefs learn from the farmers and ranchers. And the diner who shops at the local farmers market (or food coop!), participates in community supported agriculture (CSA), or patronizes a restaurant that serves local, organic ingredients, also forms more meaningful connections and understanding.
Ingredients ponders the values embedded in food, raises larger questions about the unsustainability of the current, mainstream food system, and frets about hidden costs to health and the environment, for example, the ongoing paving over of farmland under development pressures. In the year 2000, for the first time in human history, there was less farmland than there had been in the prior year, 1999, and this dire trend continues.
This modest documentary cries out, “let’s not go there.” Not inherently political, the film suggests that government has the power, if not the will, to make local food more affordable for all. Ingredients counsels respect, education, slowing down, tradition, self-reliance, appreciation, gusto, and companionship. Whether these will be enough to steer us from falling off the cliff remains an open question.
Ingredients will show Tuesday, June 10, second floor meeting room of the Coop, 7:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
