Fantastic documentary about the successful transition to organic at a small French village call Barjac; where the major started by mandating a locally grown all organic menu for the local school cafeteria and for a meals-on-wheels program for elderly.
We can learn so much from this little village for our own transition. I shows farmers, parents, kids and health care advocates discuss the impact of the decision. School and government officials weighing in on why people are dying of cancer in ever-increasing numbers, the food's industry's role, the use of pesticides, nutrition and local sustainability. It shows second and third-graders growing their own produce in the school's gardens, digging into their nutritious meals with enthusiasm, and teachers educating kids about the importance of maintaining our water sources healthy by the foot of an ancient Roman aqueduct.
I was also grateful Jean-Paul Jaud included some cliché arguments against going organic. For instance, at a town meeting someone argued that the council's concern about chemicals in food seems alarmist by saying that life spans are longer than ever, and the speaker notes that life-expectancy studies are based on people born in the 1920s and '30s, and that those folks spent their first two decades eating additive-free foods, making the townsfolk seem to adopt the notion that it might not be terrible for their own kids to get that kind of start as well. Also, when a lady asked about evidence, a government official replied by saying that that was not the issue anymore, that the evidence is documented in thousands of scientific articles, that what was needed to change was the government's will.
It was really interesting and inspiring to watch through a town's transition to improve their children lives and get healthier. One of my favorite quotes of the documentary is, "nothing is too healthy, too good, too wonderful, for our children." Wouldn't it be nice to hear that from a government official of the United States instead of lets make another irresponsible unhappy-meal quick-buck?
Interesting details:
A supplier's farm has to be growing organically (without chemicals/pesticides) for three years before they are able to use an AB lable (organic certified lable). Every store that advertises to carry organic products they must demand to see the license of every supplier.