We can all do our part to protect our planet, the environment, by thinking how we put food on our table.
Agriculture is the largest cause of global environmental change leading to climate change, deforestation, desertification and damage to coastal reefs and marine ecosystem. However, good sustainability is not just what we consume. It also includes how food is produced, distributed, packaged and consumed.
Here are three documentaries that can inspire us to fight climate change with the right food-related choices :
1. KISS THE GROUND
The more we study the more we learn. In the whole documentary: we need healthy soils to balance the climate, replenish water supplies and decrease biodiversity loses. Unfortunately, unhealthy, eroded and nutrient-depleted soils are the ones we’ve been developing over the last decades. Thanks to the Haber-Bosh process of synthesising amonia.
While Enriching the land with nitrogen allowed crops to grow larger, it nudges modern farmers/owners forget about ancestral principles used in which agriculture was more tuned with the natural cycles and taking care of the dirty.
According to the documentary, 95% of farms have poorly managed soils with little vegetation and therefore a reduced ability to sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere – which happens naturally as plants grow.
2. SEASPIRACY
Seaspiracy examines the global fishing industry, challenging notions of sustainable fishing and showing how human actions cause widespread environmental destruction.” In my Personal opinion, this documentary is a “brilliant expose of the greatest threat to marine life: fishing.”
The film is a compelling piece of environmental communication: “it’s provocative enough to provoke conversations about the subject matter.” This documentary serves an eye opener. Aside from some of the exaggerated content, this film is raising awareness in a way no one else has been able to. Give the complexity of the issue, the director really only did what was necessary for the information to be just alarming enough for everyone to actually listen. Hopefully to be worked on soon now that more people are aware of the problem. Just like other environmental communication strategy: generate public awareness first and nuance will follow.
3. PUBLIC TRUST
Some could say the Public Trust documentary is mostly for Americans to watch, but I tend to disagree. Climate change threatens everyone – despising affecting some countries harder than others. So even if a country gets 100% carbon-neutral, or even carbon-negative, its efforts won’t make a difference if every other one keeps polluting and damaging the environment.
Public Trust by Patagonia Films highlights importance of protecting public lands and water. While it’s a film about America’s system, it also reflects the world’s top economic forces (meaning it pollutes a lot and has great impacts on the environment) and the countries with the largest population numbers.
Land security is food security. Now, more than ever, the world needs to increase investment in agriculture and food security. The FAO estimates that private sector agricultural investment alone, including foreign direct investment, must rise by nearly 50% (from some $142 billion per year to $209 billion) in order to feed a growing population. Land remains a fundamental component of the world’s ability to feed itself. The film makes a clear case for protecting public lands and how industries are trying to that away from its people.
Watch full movie here :
These three documentaries remind us that while the fight for food security and justice are never over, individuals can make a difference.
