The Film

Close to a billion of the nearly seven billion people on Earth are starving today. But the food we are currently producing could feed 12 billion people.

Here is some info from the website of the film (the website is great, has loads of interesting info about food production and links; link to the website here):

"Every day in Vienna the amount of unsold bread sent back to be disposed of is enough to supply Austria's second-largest city, Graz. Around 350,000 hectares of agricultural land, above all in Latin America, are dedicated to the cultivation of soybeans to feed Austria's livestock while one quarter of the local population starves. Every European eats ten kilograms a year of artificially irrigated greenhouse vegetables from southern Spain, with water shortages the result.

In WE FEED THE WORLD, Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer traces the origins of the food we eat. His journey takes him to France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Brazil and back to Austria.

WE FEED THE WORLD is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers, long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us ."

Reviews

"The absurdities of a globalized food industry are subject to mounting scrutiny and criticism. These excesses are illustrated with jaw-dropping efficacy in this timely documentary from Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer." - Sofia International Film Festival

"We Feed the World highlights two of the most pressing issues of our time: food distribution and globalization...The film illustrates many surprising results and connections among the people who produce foods and those who consume them." - Laura Skelton, Assistant Program Director, Facing the Future: People and the Planet

"This unsettling documentary from Austria meticulously documents how the mechanization of modern food production has created a monster. It reveals how the Western agro-industry's insatiable hunger for yield is creating poorer quality food, mind-boggling wastage, and impoverishing our natural environment and those who work in it." - iofilm

PEOPLE and PLANET Film Season

Many of us are concerned by human poverty as well as the impacts of climate change. However, we rarely think of how intimately connected these issues are.

The People and the Planet film series explores how the well-being of our planet and its people are deeply linked.

Friday 27th February, 7.30: WE FEED THE WORLD

Wednesday 4th March, 7.30: CLIMATE FEVER - In conjunction with Transition Initiative Newcastle

Two short films looking at the effects of global warming, followed by discussion with guest speakers

Wednesday 11th March, 7.30: BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND THE ROOSTER'S CROW

A documentary on the environmental and social impacts of mining in Ecuador's rainforest.

Wednesday 18th March: DROWNED OUT

A film about a family's stand against the building of a dam in India, a fight against the destruction of their land, home and culture.