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Image detail from the poster for the film "Food Fight"

We love our food. Especially when it's larger than life (dare I say, "

) favorite films include such delectable delights as "Babette's Feast," "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" and "Chocolat." And of course, foodies everywhere are now extolling the virtues of "Julie & Julia."

But there's a new trend emerging in food films, and it has less to do with a beautiful plate than it does with land rights, the environment, and battling obesity. Tomorrow night and the following Wednesday night, 

 are cohosting a two-part movie series at the 

in Minneapolis. The Midtown Farmer's Market website explains the impetus for the event:

Tomorrow night the film series begins with "

," in which a group of community gardeners in south central Los Angeles fight to keep the 14 acre piece of land on which they farm.

Next Wednesday the series concludes with "

," a look at the agricultural industry's methods of providing food at a profit, and how that affects the quality of what Americans are eating.

In addition to the two films in the series, there's also 

 which is already showing at the Riverview. For those people who still haven't had enough of 

By the way, MPR's Euan Kerr is the local expert on all things cinema, and has some related stories worth checking out. He reported on the recent screening of the movie "

," a movie about the threat industrialized food production poses to food safety and community health. And he interviewed one of the movie's stars, 

, when he came to town. In addition, Kerr has also taken a look at the hard-to-watch documentary "

" which captures an annual dolphin slaughter in Japan (done primarily for the meat) on tragic detail.

Seeing all this promotion for activist films makes me wonder - how affective are movies in changing people's minds? How likely is it that the people the film producers want to reach - 

 to reach in order to fulfill their agenda - will actually buy a ticket? And if film is not the right medium for the message, what is?

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

Author

Movies are the new weapon of choice in a battle for public land and local food production.

Films for food: A new movement in moving pictures

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