Film and Food Festival - Saratoga Nov 17-20

Don't miss this great lineup of films this week at Saratoga Film Forum, focused on some of the most critical and contemporary issues facing food and farming in our country.

Thursday
Vanishing of the Bees
Thurs., Nov. 17th, 7:30 p.m. Directed by George Langworthy and Maryam HeneinUSA2009
2009's Vanishing of the Bees is stinging documentary that investigates the economic, political, and ecological implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee due to the tragic phenomenon known as "Colony Collapse Disorder."

Our screening of Vanishing of the Bees will be followed by a panel discussion.
Speakers include: Nate Darrow, Saratoga Apple--From a long line of Vermont applekeepers, Nate Darrow and his wife Christine Gaud took over the third-generation commercial apple orchard and farm stand, Saratoga Apple, in 1994. They also cultivate raspberries, cherries asparagus, plums, and other bee-dependent fruits. Darrow uses both wild bees and European honeybees he rents from beekeepers to pollinate his fruit.

Anne Frey, EAS Master Beekeeper--Anne Frey has kept bees since 1989, but has only considered herself a beekeeper since 1994. She worked for a commercial beekeeper from 2000 to 2003, became an Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) Master Beekeeper in 2002, and from 2003 to 2007 was president of Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association (SABA). She currently raises hardy northern queens and runs 20 hives in New York State.

Justin Stevens, Betterbee, Inc.--Second-generation beekeeper Justin Stevens is the manager of the Greenwich-based family business, Betterbee Inc, which not only sells honey but has developed more than 30 products for the beekeeping community, and routinely offers workshops in hive management and mite control. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, Stevens worked with indigenous beekeepers and their Africanized honeybees. He has been keeping bees all his life.

Prior to the screening we will feature a special performance by Jonathan Greene of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Flight of the Bumblebee."
Official Web site for Vanishing of the Bees
Vanishing of the Bees at the Internet Movie Database


Friday
Urban Roots
Fri., Nov. 18th, 7:30 p.m.Directed by Mark MacInnisUSA2011
Documentary about the spontaneous emergence of urban farming in the city of Detroit. In a city with the most vacant lots in the country, a small group of dedicated citizens has started an urban environmental movement with the potential to transform not just a decaying city, but perhaps a country after the end of its industrial age.

Our screening of Urban Roots will be followed by a panel discussion. Speakers
include: Abby Lublin, Collard City Growers
Patricia Salkin, Assoc. Dean and Director, Government Law Center of Albany Law School--Patricia E. Salkin is the Raymond & Ella Smith Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School where she is also Associate Dean and Director of the Government Law Center. She is the author of the 5-volume American Law of Zoning and the 4-volume New York Zoning Law & Practice. She is a member of the the US EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and she has recently written a number of articles related to legal issues with urban agriculture including articles on regional foodsheds, backyard chickens and neighborhood beekeeping.

Official Web site for Urban RootsUrban Roots at the Internet Movie Database


Saturday
Spring Street Classic Film Series
The Grapes of Wrath
Sat., Nov. 19th, 7 p.m.Directed by John Ford Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by John Steinbeck USA129 min.1940Not Rated

This month's Spring Street Classic Film fits in nicely with our Farm and Food Film Festival. John Ford's classic film, based on John Steinbeck's novel, follows the Joads on their arduous trek from Dustbowl-era Oklahoma to the "promised land" of California, and they seek work and opportunity in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Low & Lonesome, featuring Phil Drum & Rob Adkins will play Depression-era songs before our screening of The Grapes of Wrath.

The Grapes of Wrath will be screened at the Spring Street Gallery, 110 Spring Street.Admission is free. The Grapes of Wrath at the Internet Movie Database


Sunday
The Greenhorns
Sun., Nov. 20th, 3 p.m.Directed by Severine von Tscharner FlemingUSA2010

Armed with a camcorder, farmer/filmmaker/activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming spent two years crisscrossing America, meeting and mobilizing a network of revolutionary young farmers. The Greenhorns is an ode to their grit and entrepreneurial spirit, an exploration of sustainable agriculture, and an enticement to reclaim our national soil.

Our screening of The Greenhorns will include a panel discussion featuring:
Cara Fraver and Luke Deikis, Quincy Farm--After three years working for other farmers in the Hudson Valley, they started off on their own this spring, founding Quincy Farm in Easton, and cultivating just under three acres for the Glens Falls, Schenectady, and Ballston Spa farmers' markets. Despite a challenging first season, they look forward to expanding production for 2012, as well as adding a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to their market outlets.

Michael Kilpatrick, Kilpatrick Family Farm--Michael Kilpatrick is a young, first-generation farmer who is the owner and leader of Kilpatrick Family Farm. The farm, a mixed vegetable and animal operation, specializes in providing vegetables, meat, and eggs through their year round CSA and farmer's markets. Michael and his crew farm 12-15 acres of vegetables, 100 acres of hay/pasture and 1/3 of an acre of covered production in and around Granville, NY on mostly rented land.

Teri Ptacek, Executive Director, Agricultural Stewardship Association--Teri Ptacek has been the executive director of the Agricultural Stewardship Association (ASA) in Greenwich for over eight years. A land trust that protects farmland in Washington and Rensselaer Counties, the breadbasket of the Capital District, ASA stewards over 12,000 acres, 83 properties, with 19 more farms in the works. Before heading up ASA, Teri was the director of the American Farmland Trust, in Saratoga Springs.

Sunday's screening will also include a special food event. Local chefs will provide appetizers made with local ingredients, as well as homemade desserts.
Participating restaurants include:
Official Web site for The GreenhornsThe Greenhorns at the Internet Movie Database

Doing what you love is sustainable

So many of us are so busy with all our various obligations: work, family, kids, houses, mates, that we forget sometimes to make time to do the things we really love.

I was reminded this weekend of one of the things I used to love - birdwatching, which, I haven't really actively done in a long time. I'm actually okay with this, as I've come to discover other activities I enjoy, or should I say, just happen to be priorities at this time in my life.

One - is running, and the second - is writing. I've actually run on and off for exercise since I was in high school. Only in the past year, and perhaps even the past four to five months, have I discovered the joy I can get out of pushing my body to go farther or faster than I thought I could. Of course, running also triggers lots of feel-good endorphins, as does most exercise, so that's an added bonus. There is however, something fabulous about pushing your limits.

The mornings when I run and write are the days which just flow, and are the most even and balanced. The two activities seem to balance me in just the right way. I think because they are two activities I absolutely must do - my body, my soul, call it what you will, but it's like my entire being is boosted when I do these two things.

There is something really magical about the power of training. Just as when I run more and longer, I train my body to handle longer distances, the same is true of writing. The more I write, and the more time I spend crafting my words carefully, the stronger a writer I become. Both of course, like life in general, are works in progress.

Though I could be using my running time to do other things, for me, this is sacred time I need to remain healthy and balanced. And, when we are healthy and balanced is when we bring our best selves to whatever work or task is in front of us, or contribution which is calling us.

I've also discovered a wonderful community of runners. Ironically, many of my friends have been running for years - good friends from high school, past jobs, etc - all run. I knew they were runners, but I never really understood it as something they'd committed to.

Finally, I've discovered the many benefits. Perhaps it's our tribal nature, but there is also some uncanny bond or connection when you talk with someone who runs, participate in or watch a race. You want each person to succeed, and you want to motivate one another. This is also one of the great benefits of running, from my dental hygienist who encouraged me to run my first 5K, to my friend out west who's been training for marathons for over five years, sometimes by our own committment and action, we encourage each other to become our best.

Cultivating discipline, endurance, committment and steadfastness in any activity, whether running, writing, or gardening, especially one we love, can only lead to greater opening and joy. How can this be anything other than essential to sustainable living!