Agriculture Reference
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at the University of Southern California conducted a study on the effectiveness of Food, Inc . as an activist
tool. Seventy-six percent of the fifteen thousand respondents in the study said that, after seeing the movie,
they wanted to be part of a social movement to reform agribusiness, and 81 percent said the film changed
their life. The entertainment trade journal Variety called it “a civil horror movie for the socially conscious,
the nutritionally curious and the hungry. . . . 'Food Inc.' does for the supermarket what 'Jaws' did for the
beach.”
Food , Inc.'s director, Robby Kenner, who is humble about the film's success, calls himself an accidental
activist once he realized how passionate people are about food. He found himself speaking in communities
and colleges and was surprised to find hundreds, often thousands, of people show up to hear him talk. He
notes, “I speak on many college campuses, and the students always ask me what they can do next. These
issues inspire so much passion that many people want to take political action.”
Kenner is now busy at work on his latest venture, FixFood, a cross-media social action project using
videos, an interactive Web site, and community engagement to activate a mainstream audience to help
transform the food system. Targeting the key food and health issues of our time, FixFood will identify
immediately available solutions, support groups already redefining the food system, and grow the base of
consumers eager to take action. Kenner hopes that these efforts can lead to broader social change. He says,
“The goal is to transform people from passive eaters to informed shoppers who step into the political fray,
either by legislation, through retail and marketplace pressure, and/or by holding their elected officials ac-
countable.”
Destin Layne, director of food programs at GRACE Communications Foundation, an organization that
uses Web-based initiatives to educate and activate people, says the food movement is becoming more polit-
ical. Among the programs she oversees are the Eat Well Guide , a carefully curated online directory of over
25,000 locally grown and sustainably produced food listings, and Sustainable Table, a consumer-friendly
resource center that encourages people to become food activists. She says, “Viewing Food, Inc . and reading
topics like Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation expose large numbers of people to the industrial food system
in a very visceral way. Some people just react by wanting to eat more responsibly, but many others are
driven to take political action.”
New media and other forms of cultural expression that are geared toward digital natives—people who
are well versed in digital technology—are critical for mobilizing youth into political activism. The Meatrix ,
a flash animation featuring three superhero farm animals, is one of the online tools that Layne's organiz-
ation developed and that she's actively promoting. Using pop culture and satire, the viral film broke new
ground as a Web-based grassroots advocacy tool for motivating people to get involved in stopping factory
farming. The Meatrix films, now a series, have been translated into more than thirty languages and are one
of the most successful online advocacy campaigns ever, with well over 30 million viewers worldwide.
Diane Hatz, a creative marketing expert who was involved in producing The Meatrix , believes that art
and popular culture can be used not only to educate people but to move them from political apathy to polit-
ical action. As a co-founder and the director of the Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farm-
ing, Hatz organizes TEDxManhattan: Changing the Way We Eat, an annual event that combines music,
good food and wine, and dynamic presentations to mobilize people to action. Speakers are given twelve
minutes each to “charge people up” on a food issue. Besides the 350 people attending, dozens of view-
ing parties—sometimes with as many as 450 participants—are organized around the country to encourage
people to become involved. The taped presentations then become twelve-minute video tools used to mo-
bilize people on the different issues. Hatz says, “The independently organized event is based on the inter-
national TED events that are about 'ideas worth spreading,' but we also try to take it a step further and put
our ideas into action.”
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