FOOD EVOLUTION

A film by Scott Hamilton Kennedy
2017, 52 & 92 minutes
No. 165
Documentary


FOOD EVOLUTION

$375.00
DVD is a dual package, which includes the 52 min (K-12) and 92 min (college & library) versions, with English SDH subtitles.

"Food Evolution is as honest a look at the role science needs to play in our lives as any film out there." - Neil deGrasse Tyson


Description
Amidst a brutally polarized debate marked by passion, suspicion and confusion, Food Evolution, by Academy Award®-nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden, Fame High, OT: Our Town), explores the controversy surrounding GMOs and food. Traveling from Hawaiian papaya groves, to banana farms in Uganda to the cornfields of Iowa, the film, narrated by esteemed science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, wrestles with the emotions and the science driving one of the most heated arguments of our time.

In the GMO debate, both pro and anti camps claim science is on their side. Who’s right? Food Evolution shows how easily misinformation, confusion and fear can overwhelm objective analysis. How do we ensure that our food supply is safe, and that everyone has enough to eat? How do we feed the world while also protecting the planet? Has genetic engineering increased or decreased pesticide use? Are GMO foods bad for your health? And, most importantly, what data, evidence and sources are we using to approach these important questions?

While the passionate advocates in the film are all concerned with the stewardship of safe, nutritious food for the planet, their differing views over what constitutes the truth have pit them against each other, rendering the very subject of food itself into an ideological battleground.

Enlisting experts such as Mark Lynas, Michael Pollan, Alison Van Eenennaam, Jeffrey Smith, Andrew Kimbrell, Vandana Shiva, Robert Fraley, Marion Nestle and Bill Nye, as well as farmers and scientists from around the world, this bold and necessary documentary separates the hype and emotion from the science and data to unravel the debate around food, and help audiences reach their own conclusions. In a debate in which all sides claim to be on the side of science, Food Evolution brings a fresh perspective to one of the most critical issues facing global society today.


Festivals
Official Selection, DOC NYC
Official Selection, CPH:DOX
Official Selection, Seattle International Film Festival

Reviews
“Calm, careful, potentially revolutionary, Food Evolution is an iconoclastic documentary on a hot-button topic. Persuasive rather than polemical, it's the unusual issue film that deals in counterintuitive reason rather than barely controlled hysteria.” — Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Critic's Pick! “With a soft tone, respectful to opponents but insistent on the data, Food Evolution posits an inconvenient truth for organic boosters to swallow: In a world desperate for safe, sustainable food, G.M.O.s may well be a force for good.” — Daniel Gold, The New York Times

Food Evolution is a refreshingly upbeat take on a despised business sector.” — Sam Weisberg, The Village Voice

"Food Evolution takes viewers from the trenches of the anti-GMO movement, around the world to farmers' fields, and to laboratories of scientists tackling some of the most pressing agricultural challenges of our time.” — Kavin Senapathy, Forbes

"A polished and provocative call for activists to be as scientifically minded as they believe they are." — John deFore, The Hollywood Reporter

"What Scott Hamilton Kennedy captures in his scrupulous, optimistic documentary is the new reality for American scientists: the challenge of reaching a public bombarded by conspiracy theories and fearmongering." — Serena Donadoni, LA Weekly

"If we all agree that the planet is in a perilous state, it’s time to consider some radically evolved thinking." — Tom Roston, Salon

"This is recommended." - Video Librarian