Ripe for Change on October 17th @ CAC

A documentary about food and our future
"Ripe for Change"
showing at the
New Orleans Film Festival
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 5:30 p.m
Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street

"Ripe for Change"
Farmers markets, slow foods, the edible schoolyard, sustainable agriculture, organic farming, global agribusiness... What does a documentary about the struggle to define the future of California's agriculture have to do with New Orleans?

Come to the New Orleans premier of "Ripe for Change" to find out more about food and our future.

Alice Waters

Featuring renowned chef Alice Waters, founder of the Edible Schoolyard program; Will Scott Jr., president of the African-American Farmers of California; Maria Ines Catalan, a farmworker turned organic farmer; Paul Dolan who transformed Fetzer Vineyards into one of the largest organic wineries in California; Dru Rivers, founder of Full Belly Farms who sells her farm produce through a 550-member Community Supported Agriculture program; and David Mas Masumoto, a third-generation grower who saved his family's Sun Crest peaches from extinction.

"The emphasis in creating the film Ripe for Change was to connect the growers with the consumers and to put a face on the producers of what we eat - while bringing us into a deeper discussion of the issues that face us both."
Jed Riffe, filmmaker


Ripe for Change explores the intersection of food and politics and examines a host of questions about the future of our food:

What are the trade-offs between the ability to produce large quantities of food versus the health of workers, consumers, and the planet? What are the hidden costs of "inexpensive" food? How do we create sustainable agricultural practices?

Students at Edible School Yard in New Orleans Q&A to follow:

Filmmaker Jed Riffe will be joined by Donna Cavato, Program Director of the Edible Schoolyard at Samuel J. Green Charter School in New Orleans; Darlene Wolnik, deputy director of marketumbrella.org and Market Community Organizer Anne Spurrier with the Crecent City Farmers Market for discussions with the audience following the film.

Come early:

5 p.m. presentation from the Edible Schoolyard in New Orleans; film showing at 5:30 p.m.; followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Jed Riffe and others.

New Orleans Film Festival admission: $7 for NOFS members; $8 non-members

See a preview of "Ripe for Change" at:
www.beyondthedream.org

The New Orleans Film Festival,
Oct. 11-18, 2007. www.neworleansfilmfest.com

From the complete listing of more than 100 films showing at this year's festival:

RIPE FOR CHANGE
USA. 2006. 57 min. documentary: In Competition
Remember when it was more important for a peach to taste good than to look good and last for a month? This fascinating documentary explores the grass-roots battle to reclaim the food we eat from corporate agribusiness and the biotech industry. Filmmakers Emiko Omori and
Jed Riffe have won Emmys and documentary awards at Sundance, the Munich International Film Festival, and more. Now they focus on the hidden costs and hazards of fast foods and factory farms, as well as showing tasty, organic alternatives. Featuring Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and a host of small farmers, teachers and community marketers.

Map to the Contemporary Arts Center:
Map to CAC
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Links to local resources for food and our future:

The Edible School Yard/New Orleans

The Edible Schoolyard at Samuel J. Green Charter School in New Orleans seeks to integrate organic gardening and the growing of food into all aspects of the school's curriculum and lunch program. B ased on the successful Edible Schoolyard at MLK Middle School in Berkeley, CA, with the support of renowned chef Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation, its goal is to become a model project for charter schools and others in New Orleans as a way to revive and energize effective education.
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