Our first movie night was a screening of a new documentary about the planetary food crisis, The Hunger Season, on Sunday, October 19, 2008. Approximately 100 people joined us for the first-ever public screening of the film. Following the film, audience members joined the filmmaker, Beadie Finzi, as well as local hunger experts and activists for discussion of hunger issues over a "Wisconsin Meal in Swaziland" dinner, consisting of the cornmeal profiled in the film. The evening closed with a panel discussion about hunger and about ways for people to get involved with hunger activism.

Overall, we collected $300 in donations for local and global hunger relief efforts! Our thanks to everyone who came out to join us for this first event, as well as to all of our panel members, volunteers, discussion facilitators, and to First United Methodist Church of Madison for graciously hosting the event!

The screening was co-sponsored by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the Center for Culture, History and Environment (CHE), Working Films, and First United Methodist Church with support from the Bradshaw Knight Foundation, Didion Milling, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Letters and Sciences, Morgridge Center for Public Service, and the Agroecology program.

Web site: http://www.hungerseason.org/

Our second movie night was a rough cut screening of Catherine Gund's new film What's On Your Plate? This fun and engaging documentary follows two New York City teens exploring their food choices and the food system in this country. Almost 50 people provided valuable editorial feedback to Catherine, which she used to help complete the final cut for the film. In addition, Catherine was able to screen her film for students from Sherman Middle School in order to figure out how best make the final cut of the film appeal to youth, which comprise such an important target audience of the film.

This screening was co-sponsored by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Aubin Pictures, Tales from Planet Earth, Working Films, REAP Food Group, and the Morgridge Center for Public Service.

Web site: http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org

American food is in a state of crisis. Obesity and diabetes are on the rise, food costs are skyrocketing, family farms are in decline and our agricultural environment is in jeopardy. A feature-length documentary film, Ingredients explores a thriving local food movement as our world becomes a more flavorless, disconnected and dangerous place to eat. With questions of food safety, accessibility, cost, and health at the forefront, the film reveals that seasonal food grown close to home provides consumers with a sense of security and connection as they develop relationships with the people who grow and prepare their food. The primary sponsor of the screening was F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture. The screening was ntroduced by food scientist Jim Javenkoski, Ph.D. (BS '90 Food Science), who also moderated a lively post-film Q&A with a panel of food system experts (Description developed by F.H. King).
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