Food and Country
Documentarian Laura Gabbert (City of Gold) and chef/writer/editor Ruth Reichl chronicle the plight of the American food industry in the wake of greedy conglomerates and the COVID-19 pandemic, talking to independent farmers, ranchers, and restaurant owners alike.
Director Laura Gabbert and Producers Caroline Libresco and Paula Manzanendo scheduled to attend.
U.S. farm debt is at an all-time high; the corporatization of farming in America is driving out and making nearly impossible the coexistence of the independent single-family rural farms of the past. Driven by the desire for year-round availability, over half of America's fruit and around a third of our vegetables are grown outside of the country. Most of what we grow domestically is grain, soy, and corn. A significant portion of that is for export. Laying bare the mythology of the land of plenty, the cost of cheap food in America has never been higher. Examining the true cost, not only in dollars, but also the loss of tradition and history, and in the high-stakes looming collapse of our independent national food supply as we know it going forward. Food writer Ruth Reichl examines the current effects of the pandemic on our food production and the overarching sociopolitical issues that got us here to see if there is any hope in American innovation on the horizon.
—James Akita
- Director: Laura Gabbert
- Principal Cast: Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters, Minh Phan, Karen Washington, Steve Stratford, Angela Knuth, Bob & Lee Jones, Bren Smith, Reem Assil, Marcus Samuelsson
- Country: USA
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 99 min.
- Producer: Laura Gabbert, Ruth Reichl, Paula P. Manzanedo, Caroline Libresco
- Cinematographers: Jerry Henry, Martina Radwan
- Editors: Philip Owens
- Music: Ryan Rumery
- Filmography: Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020), City of Gold (2015), No Impact Man (2009), Sunset Story (2003)
- Language: English
- International Sales: Range Media Partners / Jessica Lacy