One Idiot's Reactions to Green Documentaries: Wasted!

by Dan Masterton

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste is a 2017 documentary, currently streaming on Hulu.

It's narrated by the late Anthony Bourdain, who openly derides advocacy and trendy movements while admitting that his culinary background nonetheless insists on minimizing wastefulness.

The documentary follows a few different movements of food waste and diversion, from local grocery ideals to bread waste and brewing to overfishing and more.

Here's a few takeaways from this idiot:

Much comes down to branding, semantics, and aesthetics.

Things like bouillabaisse (damaged, unsellable fish turned into a stew) and prosciutto di Parma (waste meat from the pig) could have been waste items but became desirable, sought-after menu items when prepared and marketed carefully! We are often intimidated by foods that look or sound unappealing and may or may not ever try tasting them to see how delicious they can be.

Moreover, a limited imagination around use of produce impacts what we use and what we waste. For example, a cauliflower is almost half leaves, and those leaves are pruned away in harvest and delivery, and then rarely eaten. When it comes to animals, we think "nose to tail" and celebrate using all the elements of many slaughtered animals, but we don't necessarily apply this thinking to produce.

Restaurants, grocery stores, and people along the supply chain establish unnecessary discriminating standards for the appearance or utility of food. It leads to unnecessarily low amounts of produce reaching people's kitchens and tables.

I'm a pretty simple shopper, and the amount of produce we consume in our house is not too extensive. But I'm kind of curious what additional parts of produce and meats that I already enjoy might indeed be tastier than I ever thought.

Food is produced and consumed in a global market.

While it might not be efficient or wise to overproduce intentionally and export certain foods from places like the US, it is true that a global market is completely interconnected. When we overproduce, overconsume, and overwaste our food in the US, there is a net negative in other places in the world.

One idea is "Daily Table." They get excess from grocery stores, food pantries, and other places that may discard it in ways as preposterous as just chucking a bunch of edible, decent food into dumpsters. Instead, DT will sell the food in pop-up type storefronts along public transit routes in places that may otherwise be food deserts. They try to get smaller amounts and sell it all the way through rather than ordering and stocking perennial excess of fixed items.

Mainstream grocery stores meanwhile are angling on maximum consumption, putting out more food than customers could ever use and eat. Their success largely hinges on getting people to buy as much as they can. Additionally, stores discard shelf-stable items whose "use by" or "best by" dates stamped by manufacturers have passed, with most folks assuming that it's now dangerous to cook or consume. While this is true for raw meats and dairy and some other perishable items, it's better to simply use a "smell test" and look closely at items, rather than focusing on these dates that try to fuel sell-through and stock turnover along the supply chain.

I have to say that the push for quantity and volume is overwhelming. Over time, I have definitely identified the items my family burns through more steadily and set those as the few things that I'll buy in larger quantities (whether bigger containers at Meijer or a Costco allotment) or with greater frequency. Otherwise, I try to steer clear. One way that's helped me is shopping twice a week in smaller trips rather than trying to do one big trip every 7-10 days. It lets me aim to buy less, buy fresh, and think shorter-term about what will definitely get used at a definite moment or meal.

The food use pyramid provides basic, overall guidance on minimizing waste.

It's an elegant concept to help us think clearly and simply about how to utilize food components.

It starts with reducing production to levels closer to actual consumption rather than focused solely on capitalistic, profit-focused pathways. Then, surplus is directed toward those experiencing hunger, perhaps by funneling food to them at discounts or in free distributions. Scraps then should be used to feed livestock (this doc has an awesome journey through eco-feed production in the island-nation of Japan). What can't feed people or animals then ought to become part of rendering or energy creation in industries. Finally, otherwise unusable scraps ought to be composted, whether in your backyard or through municipal or community programs. Only tiny fractions of our food should make it to landfills and incinerators.

I had somehow never seen this diagram before, but it's impeccable. It need not get more complicated than this! And it provides a basic road map for how to think about food and divert the components.

One Idiot's Reactions to Green Documentaries: The Letter

by Dan Masterton

The Letter is a 2022 release that seeks to animate Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical. It follows four individuals identified as integral voices to this dialogue: Arouna, a climate refugee from Senegal and the voice of the poor; Chief Cacique, a chief in the Amazon and the voice of the Indigenous; Ridhima, a teenaged climate activist from India and the voice of the youth; and Greg and Robin, climate scientists from Hawaii and the voice of the wildlife and nature.

The movie is available for free on YouTube, and full links and resources are nicely organized here at theletterfilm.org.

Here’s one idiot’s thoughts:

It Takes a Village, or a Choir

Laudato Si’ Movement organizer Lorna Gold, who features in this process, says that the unique trait of this effort is the intentionality of bringing in voices from specific backgrounds to create a distinct representation. And I’d say she’s right. At one point, the group is described as a choir that must sing together to bring full exposure to climate change.

Francis convenes and joins this dialogue that seeks to draw upon the experience of the poor, Indigneous, young, and natural. As the film takes you through the background of each representative, you gain a sense of how these really may be the four most crucial and relevant areas to understanding and responding to the impacts of climate change.

Additionally, the interplay between these representatives propels the viewer to engaging places. For instance, when Chief Cacique consoles Arouna, it is a powerful contrast to begin with. The chief sits rock-solid and stoic in almost every shot, and he speaks with a deliberate, steady tone; conversely, Arouna is a lanky, expressive gentleman who is more animated in gestures and facial expressions, and we even see him break down to the point of tears. The chief brings new expression to Catholic Social Teaching solidarity as he rallies the group in response to Arouna’s tragedy and pain: not only must we see his pain as our pain, Cacique explains, but we must also respond and fight together while he is still breathing and fighting himself.

The way he builds upon shared sorrows and joys to even say it must be a shared – and urgent – action is impeccable.

Willful Ignorance

Francis is so adept at preaching, delivering profound messages in accessible language and with a particular flavor of metaphor.

The one that sticks with me from this film is his bit on building. He starts with the Tower of Babel, and he jokes he has no idea how high they meant to build it – but implies they surely wanted to go much higher than needed. Then, he turns to the materials and process. He points out that if a worker drops a brick and it shatters, then the worker is beaten and ridiculed – such negligence is wasteful of material! Yet, if a worker is injured and dies while building, the worker is simply replaced, and the project continues, likely uninterrupted.

My takeaway is that we become enslaved to the need for progress that must come at any cost. And this enslavement is so pronounced that we lose track of the human cost with our narrow-sightedness. Even if we remain aware of resource utilization (or over-utilization), we often overlook or ignore human impacts. When it comes to climate change, then, he thinks we are unable to stop ourselves from forcing along progress so aggressively, that we won’t acknowledge the destruction of the earth or the impact on our sisters and brothers.

Francis says, simply, “Nature is starting to complain. Nature is screaming, ‘Stop!’” We don’t listen. We damage the earth. And we push communities and nations toward disaster and meanwhile willfully ignore it.

from TheLetterFilm.org

Afflict the Comfortable

As someone who is an ideological moderate – and a bit of an introverted non-confrontationist – I will admit that I sometimes shy away from more radical folks or more radical ideas. Yet, I know, even in my little moderate heart, that certain moments call for more pronounced responses. Incrementalism and compromise don’t always fit the bill, even if they’re a good operative mindset!

Francis says, “Every revolution is constructive, and when you are settled, that is hard to imagine. The young can raise their voices.”

Francis is certainly a rabble-rouser, someone who is sometimes too traditional for progressive-minded folks and often too change-oriented for traditional-minded folks. I appreciate the nuance he offers here – bring change that’s not just change for change’s sake but rather a change that is constructive. And let it come from those who aren’t so settled in their ways that they become blinded to its necessity.

Francis seems to be looking toward the youth in this moment, and he’s certainly right. Those in middle-age and elder years are unlikely to fully appreciate the stakes of problems whose worst consequences are still a few decades away. This is a moment for Gen-X, Millennials, Gen-Z, and those who follow us, to force the issue and band together with like-mindedness around an issue that WILL impact our lives.

And as a parent, I hope the little things I discover can take root in my kids. I have already been delighted to think that my kids will have always gone to school with reusable snack bags and will have had a backyard compost pile as long as they can remember. I hope those foundational habits and the ones we develop and add over time can shape a mindset that sees these issues and the needed responses with the proper urgency and solemnity.

One Idiot's Reactions to Green Documentaries: Kiss the Ground

by Dan Masterton

Kiss the Ground is a 2020 documentary that unpacks some of the complicating factors around climate change, looking closely at a range of strategies, largely focused on soil.



The documentary is still available for streaming on Netflix, and the filmmakers encourage folks to host screenings, which are free for nonprofits and educational institutions: https://kissthegroundmovie.com/host-a-screening/

Here’s a few of one idiot’s main takeaways:

The Financial Appeal

Often with actions perceived as progressive or maybe even “woke,” there is an instinctive resistance from people with more conservative ideologies. This is often true with climate change.

In this film, some of the ranchers who speak to advocate for their regenerative agricultural methods are right out of central casting for conservatism – rural, white, cis, straight, plain-spoken Americans. It’s a breath of fresh air to see advocacy coming from these folks – I love idiosyncratic ideology. Maybe they’re very pro-gun-rights, pro-abortion-restrictions, and more, but they also acknowledge the myriad appeal of regenerative practices.

As they make appeals to American farmers, the skepticism and hesitancy they get back is clear. That’s why they often pivot to different arguments to persuade greater consideration.

First, one rancher says he tells people he teaches that, if they don’t believe him, he’d put the next year of his ranch up against theirs and prove it in the results. At one point, he even brings the camera crew to the property line between his diverse, green, healthy plot and the adjacent yellowed, eroding plot of his neighbor.

Second, in one presentation, the gentleman teaching the crowd suggests that regenerative farming is a great way to get off “government welfare.” Farmers often take significant subsidies and price guarantees from the federal government to grow certain crops and quantities. Regenerative farming is a way to wrest control for oneself and make a living that is one your own terms and without such “handouts.” If some conservatives rail against this sort of government activism, then he’s offering a ticket to independent prosperity. It’s a cagey tack for sure.

Overall, it reminds me of learning natural family planning. While there is definite appeal for those whose religious beliefs preclude them from using artificial birth control, there’s other strong appeals. For infertile couples, there’s cycle tracking that can maximize the chances of conception. For green enthusiasts, there’s the chance to avoid taking a chemical prescription that artificially adjusts one’s natural processes. Sometimes, it’s a combination or variety of persuasion that helps someone consider a new strategy.

Gotta Eat Some Dirt

I had often heard that it’s not the worst thing for kids to eat dirt. And as someone who prefers to be low-maintenance, I don’t need myself or my kids to be squeaky clean 24-7. A little dirt under the fingernail or scrapes on the knees are a sign of fun that was had.

This movie really gets into the importance of eating dirt – well, maybe not directly. But, in a nutshell, the microorganisms in the ground infuse our produce with important content. And then when we eat it, or the animals we butcher and consume eat it, it brings improved health to our guts. It keeps our bodies humming with a healthy and diverse microbiome.

Unfortunately, the excessive use of chemical agricultural treatments on produce farms can drastically reduce the microorganism life in the field. Thus, the yield from these fields is deficient in providing our meat-source animals and us with a strong microbiome.

And, in a way that’s above my pay grade, but well-explained in the film, the use of these chemicals is largely unnecessary.

Farms should be ranches; ranches should be farms.

The most impactful element for me was the argument for agriculture to always be a mix of raising livestock and planting and growing on the land. Modern methods are too fixated on tilling and spraying and contribute massively to erosion and desertification.

Here's an illustration that only slightly exaggerates the contrast.

Aerial footage of feedlots, where giant herds of livestock are penned up and fed to be prepared for slaughter, showed how horribly eroded the ground gets.

Aerial footage of regeneratively managed land, where herds of livestock roam free in rotating areas of the land, showed how well grazing, urination, defecation, and hoof-traffic can help the churn the land and sustain a healthy yield. The greenery and lushness of the landscape was profound, and the non-eroded, non-desertified land does wonders for carbon capture and could move us forward majorly in carbon drawdown.

It made me want to shift my not-insignificant ground beef consumption – I meal-plan a for house that loves bolognese sauce, meatballs, chili, hand-patted burgers, and more. I did some looking, and I bookmarked REP Provisions. I’ve been paying $7-9/lb for 90% or higher lean beef at the grocery store, and REP’s 5 x 1 lb. bundle of 90/10 beef is $50. To me, that’s a reasonable premium to get and support regenerative agriculturists’ product, and getting 5 lbs. every 60-90 days is a decent rate for us. It’s free shipping at $99, so I’ll be on the lookout for an ordering buddy at some point soon!

* * *

And these three nuggets don’t even dig deep into drawdown and sequestration!

This is an enjoyable, well-produced watch that informs and provides some high-end cinematography, too. It’s not a pessimistic, doom-and-gloom jeremiad but rather an impetus to think and act. Have a watch, and let me know what you think.

Watch it on Netflix!