During the recent “All Things Food and Environment” Summit in Park City, Utah, filmmakers, business leaders, and food advocates emphasized the role stories play in food and agriculture systems transformation.
The event, co-hosted by Food Tank and Nespresso during the Sundance Film Festival, featured food-focused films that uplift the benefits of regenerative farming, emphasize the potential of traditional and Indigenous foods, and celebrate education that deepens the connection between young eaters and their food.
The forthcoming docuseries “The Envoy Show,” for example, will focus an episode on the climate-resilient, nutritious crop fonio and the farmers in West Africa growing it.
“The story of fonio hits the pillars of health, wealth, and world so perfectly,” says Anne Marie Hagerty, Host and Founder of the series.
Chef Pierre Thiam, who founded the company Yolélé, believes that creating a market for fonio—as his brand does by selling the grain along with snacks made from it—it’s possible to improve biodiversity, heal soils, and support farmers’ livelihoods. It can also promote what Hagerty describes as “culinary diplomacy.”
And while “The Envoy Show” highlights fonio, Thiam sees the crop as a Trojan horse. He believes that the model he uses can be scaled and applied to other traditional crops that offer similar social, economic, and environmental benefits but haven’t received the necessary attention.
“It’s not just about one grain,” Thiam says. “It’s about all of those that are underutilized, that need to be reintegrated into our food system, and we need to do it by supporting the small farmers that have been growing them for the past generations.”
In another documentary, “Farming While Black,” the camera lens is turned on Leah Penniman, Co-Founder of Soul Fire Farm, among other Black farmers and advocates. Produced by Konkent Films, the documentary examines the historical plight of Black producers in the United States, while looking at the efforts of the new generation of Black farmers as they work to reclaim the land.
Lynn Waymer, a social impact producer with Kontent Films, explains that since its release “Farming While Black” has resonated with viewers and reached audiences they didn’t initially expect. She is even excited to see universities integrating the film into curricula to teach about topics such as heirs property.
“Everyone can understand the history of our country, how we move forth with hope, how we can become a liberated society, how we become free,” Waymer says. “And a lot of that has to do with being able to provide for yourself, for your family, for your community, and that begins with food.”
Listen to the full conversations with Lynn Waymer, Pierre Thiam, and Anne Marie Hagerty from the “All Things Food and Environment” Summit on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about the inspiration behind these documentaries and the process of producing them, the importance of trust and collaboration in telling the stories most effectively, and the power of culinary diplomacy. And watch the full series of sessions from the event by clicking HERE.
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Photo courtesy of Katie Lasak for Food Tank
