News
Whole Grains?
Above is a photograph of a plate of saltenas in Sucre, Bolivia. Why is it here? We, Ellen, the film director and Spencer, the fisher/hunter/partial spark for the documentary, Eating Alaska, left our freezer of local fish and jars of beach asparagus behind to burn some fossil fuels and visit Argentina and Bolivia. Travel is a good way to provoke thoughts on the local and the global and also, of course, to extend your palate, try new foods and eat things that aren't local to your home.
Saltenas are a Bolivan type of empanada; warm savory pastries that hold a combination of chicken or meat, greens and sauce and are sometimes vegetarian too. it is a tradition to enjoy salteñas as a mid-morning snack, although vendors often start selling salteñas very early in the morning.
In our weeks on the road, we enjoyed Bolivian salteñas, soursop, passion fruit and papaya juices and the cafes and ice cream in Argentina, art museums, salt flats and incredible terrain. At the same time, we found ourselves dreading what seemed like an endless supply of chewy white bread and piles of white rice. Perhaps we've gotten a little spoiled by not eating out that much in the USA or elsewhere, so we just don't see all the white buns and scoops of glowing white rice here too. We live on an island (in many ways) and order bulk whole grains and brown rice and make bread with barley,chick pea and other flours. White rice, I've been reading, stores longer and can be easier to digest. For some cultures white vs. brown rice is associated with wealth. You have to wonder, how would the health of people worldwide be impacted if more people got to eat whole grains?
Screenings
We'll soon be posting more of the upcoming Eating Alaska screenings.
Here is one:
University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Bristol Bay Campus, Room 128, Dillingham
Sustainability Series
Saturday, February 27, 7 PM
An Interview with the Director
While taking a break, this interview was posted on the website of Commitment
For women who are committed to their work, their world, their soul mate, their children, their friends, themselves...
Here is an excerpt (more at Commitment)
CommitmentNow: You are a vegetarian who lives in Alaska. Eating Alaska is a thoughtful, funny and beautifully filmed documentary film you made to question the ethical and sustainable way to live when it comes to food. By the end of the film you state that you have a new understanding of how we relate to where we live and what we put in our stomachs. What is this understanding?
Ellen Frankenstein: Maybe it is a combination of understanding and acceptance of this:
Eating is not simple. When you stop to think about it a lot of the daily choices we make are clouded in complexities and challenges. There are not simple answers to what is the best or right thing to eat, for our bodies or the planet. In the end, my hope is that we can make choices that make sense for where we live and that we all can have access to healthy and safe, nutritious food.
CommitmentNow: What inspired you to make this film?
Ellen: It is a combination of interests colliding with personal experience. I have thought about the politics of food for many years. I decided as a teenager meat eating did not make sense because of all the grain and feed that goes to cattle. I figured that while some people ate steaks, other starved. At the same time, I began to work in different cultures and was intensely uncomfortable saying “no” to food that people offered me. When I moved to Alaska and found myself surrounded by hunters and fishers, I changed what was on my plate. When I discovered some women I knew hunted, I thought it would be a great subject for a film and way to explore issues of how we relate to where we live and what we eat as well as play with our expectation of gender roles.
02/26/2010: "Saltenas, Screenings and Interviews"
Whole Grains?
Above is a photograph of a plate of saltenas in Sucre, Bolivia. Why is it here? We, Ellen, the film director and Spencer, the fisher/hunter/partial spark for the documentary, Eating Alaska, left our freezer of local fish and jars of beach asparagus behind to burn some fossil fuels and visit Argentina and Bolivia. Travel is a good way to provoke thoughts on the local and the global and also, of course, to extend your palate, try new foods and eat things that aren't local to your home.
Saltenas are a Bolivan type of empanada; warm savory pastries that hold a combination of chicken or meat, greens and sauce and are sometimes vegetarian too. it is a tradition to enjoy salteñas as a mid-morning snack, although vendors often start selling salteñas very early in the morning.
In our weeks on the road, we enjoyed Bolivian salteñas, soursop, passion fruit and papaya juices and the cafes and ice cream in Argentina, art museums, salt flats and incredible terrain. At the same time, we found ourselves dreading what seemed like an endless supply of chewy white bread and piles of white rice. Perhaps we've gotten a little spoiled by not eating out that much in the USA or elsewhere, so we just don't see all the white buns and scoops of glowing white rice here too. We live on an island (in many ways) and order bulk whole grains and brown rice and make bread with barley,chick pea and other flours. White rice, I've been reading, stores longer and can be easier to digest. For some cultures white vs. brown rice is associated with wealth. You have to wonder, how would the health of people worldwide be impacted if more people got to eat whole grains?
Screenings
We'll soon be posting more of the upcoming Eating Alaska screenings.
Here is one:
University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Bristol Bay Campus, Room 128, Dillingham
Sustainability Series
Saturday, February 27, 7 PM
An Interview with the Director
While taking a break, this interview was posted on the website of Commitment
For women who are committed to their work, their world, their soul mate, their children, their friends, themselves...
Here is an excerpt (more at Commitment)
CommitmentNow: You are a vegetarian who lives in Alaska. Eating Alaska is a thoughtful, funny and beautifully filmed documentary film you made to question the ethical and sustainable way to live when it comes to food. By the end of the film you state that you have a new understanding of how we relate to where we live and what we put in our stomachs. What is this understanding?
Ellen Frankenstein: Maybe it is a combination of understanding and acceptance of this:
Eating is not simple. When you stop to think about it a lot of the daily choices we make are clouded in complexities and challenges. There are not simple answers to what is the best or right thing to eat, for our bodies or the planet. In the end, my hope is that we can make choices that make sense for where we live and that we all can have access to healthy and safe, nutritious food.
CommitmentNow: What inspired you to make this film?
Ellen: It is a combination of interests colliding with personal experience. I have thought about the politics of food for many years. I decided as a teenager meat eating did not make sense because of all the grain and feed that goes to cattle. I figured that while some people ate steaks, other starved. At the same time, I began to work in different cultures and was intensely uncomfortable saying “no” to food that people offered me. When I moved to Alaska and found myself surrounded by hunters and fishers, I changed what was on my plate. When I discovered some women I knew hunted, I thought it would be a great subject for a film and way to explore issues of how we relate to where we live and what we eat as well as play with our expectation of gender roles.
Ellen Frankenstein, on 02.26.10 @ 10:47AKT
