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Filmmaking not just as entertainment, but as an act of advocacy, is far from new. Using the documentary format to raise awareness has proven effective time and again, particularly in tackling broad topics using personal case studies, and perhaps even more so within the realm of food. For more than a decade, features that shed light on culinary causes have proliferated, whether demonstrating the fat content of mass-produced burgers and fries in Super Size Me, the difficulties of trying to avoid genetically modified products in GMO OMG, or the health impacts of all things sweet in That Sugar Film. Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story follows their recipe, this time attempting to direct attention towards the large quantities of edible items thrown out rather than consumed.
Most movies fond of this method of stating their case tell audiences that we are what we eat, whether that happens to be McDonalds, engineered ingredients or everyday meals with higher than expected sugar content. Here, the message is framed differently: as a society, we are defined by what we don’t eat, and what we don’t eat is around thirty per cent of the food produced globally. To place this point within a relatable situation, director Grant Baldwin and producer Jenny Rustemeyer chart their own efforts to survive for six months on nothing but waste. They’re not eating scraps; they’re sourcing their groceries from discarded items, usually thrown out by supermarkets as the expiry date approaches.
There’s a reason that breaking down nutrition, cooking and other consumption-related issues into their simplest and most routine forms – such as watching other people adapting their eating and shopping habits – is popular and effective. Seeing the everyday consequences for ordinary folks puts the theory into practice, counteracts the array of talking heads that otherwise monopolise such documentaries, and offers personable guides that can share their own experiences. Indeed, while Baldwin’s compilation of supporting segments spanning market sellers, scrap farmers and fresh produce growers is never anything less than interesting, it is his own story that drives the film. Together with Rustemeyer, he embarks upon salvage missions that turn into scavenger hunts, with the results of their quest eye opening.
Of course, one of the drawbacks of tackling topics in this manner is the lack of subtlety and the clear pushing of an agenda. There is no room for dissenting voices; however whether anyone would or could argue against the data presented here, or even the underlying idea of the wastefulness of western society, is questionable. Another challenge stems from the film’s scope on what is clearly a complex area. Experts such as authors Tristram Stuart and Jonathan Bloom, and food and agriculture scientist Dana Gunders, provide the broad strokes of contextualising information that positions the central mission as a rebellion against a culture of food abundance, as well as the related financial and environmental ramifications, though never in much depth.
Where Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story may never claim to make an extensive meal from its chosen subject, it certainly serves up a visual feast, as well as easily digestible one. Baldwin and Rustemeyer’s smooth, glossy camerawork wouldn’t be out of place on a television cooking show, nor would their friendly banter. That this is their second outing as filmmakers, and as documentarians changing their lives for their cause after 2010’s The Clean Bin Project, shows in their assured and accessible adventure through the offcuts of the food chain. Their sophomore offering also demonstrates the passion and perseverance that can make cinema acts of cuisine-based activism educational, entertaining and habit changing – or, cook up true food for thought.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
Director: Grant Baldwin
USA, 2014, 75 mins
Human Rights Arts and Film Festival
hraff.org.au
Melbourne: 7 – 21 May
Canberra: 22 – 25 May
Sydney: 26 – 30 May
Darwin: 30 May – 1 June
Brisbane: 2 – 4 June
Perth: 2 – 4 June
Alice Springs: 5 – 7 June
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