Today and tomorrow, Slow Food Sacramento will be hosting the second annual Sacramento Food Film Festival! As we’ve mentioned before, Sacramento was recently designated America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, so the festival taking place here in town couldn’t be more appropriate!Starting tonight, you’ll have the chance to watch several captivating films that present us with an honest look at where our food comes from—from sustainable production, to the not-so-pretty realities of food production in America. Not only do you have the chance to view seven different films, but for the first time, attendees can taste the experience too, with certain events providing tastings of the foods covered in the films! Here’s a rundown of the films and the food:
Friday, March 15 (5:30-10 p.m.)
• 5:30: Quest for Local Honey
This locally shot film explores how humans are working “hand in wing” with bees to create locally systems of economics and sustainable food production while keeping the health of the hive alive. This film will be followed by a honey tasting and discussion with the filmmakers at 6:30.
• 7:00: Ticket holders then move next door to the Forty Acres Gallery for a sushi tasting and discussion of seafood sustainability with Taro from Mikuni and Billy Ngo from Kru.
*Tickets for the sushi tasting needed to be purchased by March 13.
• 8:30: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
This film tells the story of 85-year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. His restaurant, located in a Tokyo subway station, it is now a pilgrimage location for sushi lovers who call months in advance and shell out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.
Saturday, March 16 (11-9 p.m.)
• 11:00: The day kicks off with an exciting food-themed scavenger hunt for all ages followed by films and panel discussions throughout the day.
• 11:30: What’s On Your Plate?
A camera follows two 11-year-old kids as they explore food systems in New York City, talking with all contributors to the local food chain—from food activists to storekeepers.
• 1:00: A Community of Gardeners
This film takes a look at the roles of seven separate Washington, DC community gardens. This film is followed by a discussion at 2 p.m. about area community gardens within Sacramento.
• 3:00: Meat Hooked!
Meat Hooked! explores the rise and fall and rise again of local butchers. The film goes back in time to the early 19th century and moves quickly to the present, following several butchers.
• 4:15: American Harvest
In a series of candid interviews with farmers and farmworkers from Florida to Maine, the viewer objectively learns the facts, and dispels the myths, connected with migrant farmworkers that are rarely seen by most people. This film is followed by a moderated discussion of farm workers and their role in U.S. agriculture.
• 6:30: Symphony of the Soil
The film examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in dealing with the most challenging environmental issues of our time.
Proceeds from the festival this weekend will benefit California Food Literacy Center as well as Slow Food Sacramento.
Tickets:
• Friday Opening Night tickets, which include two films and two tastings: $40/person
• Saturday all-day tickets: $25 or $7/for an individual film
• Weekend festival tickets, good for both days: $55
For more details and to purchase tickets, visit: www.SlowFoodSacramento.com
Photo credit: www.sacfoodfilmfest.com