Evento

FRESH: Documentary and Conversation with Melanie Cheng

Thanksgiving is over. Holidays are around the corner. We're tired, full, and happy. A movie sounds grand! Join us to kick back, get inspired, and recharge after the indulgent weekend. We think FRESH (synopsis below) will even give you some cool ideas about how to celebrate the Holidays and make New Years Resolutions that matter. After the screening, Melanie Cheng of Farms Reach and Catalyst Commons will talk about Bay Area FRESH ideas that we can rally behind. Melanie was recently named one of "Ten Most Inspiring People in Sustainable Food" by Fast Company. How cool is that?

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur's 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Melanie Cheng - An avid environmentalist and fan of good food, Melanie sought a way to combine her appreciation of local cuisine with her deep respect for the earth. While working as an editor and technical writer, she established relationships with both the farming and restaurant communities, and laid the groundwork for what became Om Organics. Since then, her discovery of the ag sector has led to her founding FarmsReach.com (b-to-b marketplace for regional foods) and recently Catalyst Commons to unwind the tangled network of the ag industry for funders as well as groups working on the ground. Melanie was recently named one of "Ten Most Inspiring People in Sustainable Food" by Fast Company.