FRESH, the Movie: with Will Allen of Growing Power

There's a new movie, FRESH, by Ana Joanes, that is causing a lot of buzz: here is the trailer. You'll see Will Allen of Growing Power, and (in the film itself) other inspiring food activists, like Joel Salatin. I have to admit, I teared up when I saw this trailer.

I'm not the only one. There's an interview with Ana Joanes over at Cheese Slave, a blog celebrating "the love of cheese. And bacon. And butter. And raw milk. And all those other things we’re not supposed to eat." The author, annmarie at realfoodmedia.com (use the @ sign), says she gets teary-eyed, too, when she sees it.

Reference to FRESH is popping up all over. Click here to go the blog of The Beginning Farmer, where he mentions it, too. And the film showed to sold out audiences last week in Minneapolis, with more screenings coming across the land. Here's a story about Ana Joanes at the Huffington Post. It's exciting, this momentum in the direction of reclaiming our land and local food economies.

25 Random Things: F-Words

Another of my 25 random things, as I work through the alphabet, a second post for the letter "f". (God bless the alphabet(s), by the way!) A few important f-words:

Fresh and free-range: I like my ideas and enthusiasms much like my food – fresh and free-range. I've never been able to constrain my wide-ranging interests, try as I have at times to delimit them. Hence this website, where I roam among them, drawing connections and following their lead. Thanks for indulging me, dear Ideal Readers!

Feminist: Yes, without a doubt. Beyond the waves of 1st, 2nd or post-feminist demarcations, I know that my life has been improved immensely by the efforts of our feminist forebears, women who brought us the vote, choice, more job security, and the freedom to speak out on domestic, personal, and political issues. The best men are unapologetic feminists, too. The wonderful free-range tree of life here ("Woman with Fan") is by feminist artist Susan Bee.

Fragrance: The people who I think deserve at least one shot at Keith Olbermann's "Worst People in the World" award are those who add synthetic fragrance to everything under the sun, including body care and household cleaning products. I'll be ranting about this again, as time goes by. Essential oils, good. Fragrance, deadly.

Far-flung family and friends: a fascinating trope. I'm very connected to my free-range far-flung family and friends, even though we often lack sufficient face time.

Frankenstein: No f-word list is complete without him, patron saint of the Other.

facebook: And finally, I guess I really ought to add facebook, as I'm a relatively new facebook afficionado. I resisted for a long time, and then capitulated when my friend Lisa assured me that "Facebook is all about fun and jack-assery." Whew, who knew? Just don't fling me any Lil' Green Patches – even I know they won't really save the world.

France: Ah, and France. Home of my favorite philosophes, Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard. For a magnificent glimpse of daily life in Paris, visit the web log of photographer Ricardo Bloch, Amphibious Andromeda.