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What does a Becoming an Outdoor Woman Workshop, teaching outdoor skills including hunting and fishing, have in common with a natural food coop?
In the next weeks a BOW workshop and a food coop are both showing the documentary, Eating Alaska (details below), but they have other things in common, things I might not have thought about before I set off to make and show this documentary about looking for the "right thing" to eat.
My quest in Eating Alaska was partially sparked by the realization some of my female friends in Alaska, hunted, trapped and fished, without men in the lead or even in tow. It struck me that breaking stereotypes of gender roles is one matter. Having the skills do these activities, however, is less about image and more about motivation and action. I first heard of a national program called Becoming an Outdoor Woman as we made the film. It is in an educational program created to encourage women to be comfortable and more aware of the outdoor world and to break down the barriers to being active, be it dipnetting for salmon in Alaska or turkey hunting in Indiana.
In a symposium, organizers found out this:
"Two thirds of the barriers listed related to the fact that once they got there, most women didn't know what to do outdoors - they didn't learn from their parents as youngsters, or didn't belong to outdoor groups as a child. And when they reached adulthood, they often found that their life partner wasn't the perfect teacher of outdoor skills."
Today, about 46 states, eight provinces, and at least two other countries offer BOW workshops, and more than 20,000 women attend events every year. In the upcoming workshop in Chickaloon, Alaska (not far from our former governor Sarah Palin's home town of Wasila) students have a chance to learn to tie knots, be safe with firearms, hone tracking and animal sign skills, make snow caves and survive in the cold and use a chain saw and to have fun and camaraderie too.
Cu to another scene, from an exterior with women lined up, arms outstretched, bow string pulled, arrows aimed at the targets, to a cozy interior, past a display of organic spray free apples and potatoes, a peanut butter grinder, fair trade dark chocolate bars and bins of lentils and granola, to a room with folding chairs and a screen. The viewers who come to the film series sponsored by Food Co-ops, like the Eureka Co-op Community Kitchen, might not be interested in field dressing a moose, or fishing through a hole in the ice, but like the women who are gaining outdoors skills. They are encouraging a connection to food and environment that crosses hunters and gatherers, be they ones with a bow and compass, or a smart car and cloth bags.
This next coop to screen the film, the North Coast Co-op, is in northern California. The website tells us they offer good food without artificial ingredients, using organic or natural ingredients whenever possible. The democratic, volunteer, member-owned food coop movement started in the 1970's. The rise of bigger stores selling organic foods and the use of "natural" on lots of labels, might be a challenge to coops, but there are still lots around and plenty devoted members from coast to coast. They are showing films like Eating Alaska, Fresh and the World According to Monsanto to educate people to be more active in food choices and how what you eat impacts out health and the health of the planet,
In this era of waking up to the horrors of the industrial food system, frightening reports on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, record unemployment, not to mention high rates of obesity and diabetes, how do we find comfort and health? It seems all the more important to be involved in activities that encourage well-being, self-sufficiency and connection to the source of our food and to try to cut our carbon footprint. Knowing where you food comes from, who "cut up my meat," as a teen in Kotzebue says in the film, may not end a war, or make a huge dent in the realm of climate change, but it is ownership and step in taking responsibility for what is around us. I have to say, listing both of these screenings in the same month reminds me of common aspirations, that I hope in some way can outweigh what feels at times like so much divisiveness, and a whole lot of negativity and apathy.
Eating Alaska Screenings Ahead
Winter BOW (Becoming an Outdoors Woman) Workshop, Chickaloon, AK
Alaska Fish and Game BOW
March 12-14, 2010
Don't Buy Food from Strangers Film Series
Tuesdays, March 16,
Akron Main Library Auditorium
(60 S. Main Street, Akron 44326)
6-9 p.m.
Hosted by Countryside Conservancy
Food System Film Festival, Michigan State University,
Saturday, March 20
Movies and Munchies in the Eureka Coop Community Kitchen
Friday March 26, 12 & 6 PM
4th & B street
More News
Want to see Eating Alaska on-line?
Coming very soon for a small fee you can have a 90 day stream, with customized options for institutions. Check it out at New Day Digital.
The Sitka Local Foods Network and Eating Alaska both received a magazine mention in an article about food sustainability in Alaska. Click here to see the article and read about the network, http://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/.
Home » Archives » March 2010 » EATING ALASKA SCREENINGS FROM NATURAL FOOD COOPS TO OUTDOOR WOMEN WORKSHOPS
03/08/2010: "EATING ALASKA SCREENINGS FROM NATURAL FOOD COOPS TO OUTDOOR WOMEN WORKSHOPS"
What does a Becoming an Outdoor Woman Workshop, teaching outdoor skills including hunting and fishing, have in common with a natural food coop?
In the next weeks a BOW workshop and a food coop are both showing the documentary, Eating Alaska (details below), but they have other things in common, things I might not have thought about before I set off to make and show this documentary about looking for the "right thing" to eat.
My quest in Eating Alaska was partially sparked by the realization some of my female friends in Alaska, hunted, trapped and fished, without men in the lead or even in tow. It struck me that breaking stereotypes of gender roles is one matter. Having the skills do these activities, however, is less about image and more about motivation and action. I first heard of a national program called Becoming an Outdoor Woman as we made the film. It is in an educational program created to encourage women to be comfortable and more aware of the outdoor world and to break down the barriers to being active, be it dipnetting for salmon in Alaska or turkey hunting in Indiana.
In a symposium, organizers found out this:
"Two thirds of the barriers listed related to the fact that once they got there, most women didn't know what to do outdoors - they didn't learn from their parents as youngsters, or didn't belong to outdoor groups as a child. And when they reached adulthood, they often found that their life partner wasn't the perfect teacher of outdoor skills."
Today, about 46 states, eight provinces, and at least two other countries offer BOW workshops, and more than 20,000 women attend events every year. In the upcoming workshop in Chickaloon, Alaska (not far from our former governor Sarah Palin's home town of Wasila) students have a chance to learn to tie knots, be safe with firearms, hone tracking and animal sign skills, make snow caves and survive in the cold and use a chain saw and to have fun and camaraderie too.
Cu to another scene, from an exterior with women lined up, arms outstretched, bow string pulled, arrows aimed at the targets, to a cozy interior, past a display of organic spray free apples and potatoes, a peanut butter grinder, fair trade dark chocolate bars and bins of lentils and granola, to a room with folding chairs and a screen. The viewers who come to the film series sponsored by Food Co-ops, like the Eureka Co-op Community Kitchen, might not be interested in field dressing a moose, or fishing through a hole in the ice, but like the women who are gaining outdoors skills. They are encouraging a connection to food and environment that crosses hunters and gatherers, be they ones with a bow and compass, or a smart car and cloth bags.
This next coop to screen the film, the North Coast Co-op, is in northern California. The website tells us they offer good food without artificial ingredients, using organic or natural ingredients whenever possible. The democratic, volunteer, member-owned food coop movement started in the 1970's. The rise of bigger stores selling organic foods and the use of "natural" on lots of labels, might be a challenge to coops, but there are still lots around and plenty devoted members from coast to coast. They are showing films like Eating Alaska, Fresh and the World According to Monsanto to educate people to be more active in food choices and how what you eat impacts out health and the health of the planet,
In this era of waking up to the horrors of the industrial food system, frightening reports on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, record unemployment, not to mention high rates of obesity and diabetes, how do we find comfort and health? It seems all the more important to be involved in activities that encourage well-being, self-sufficiency and connection to the source of our food and to try to cut our carbon footprint. Knowing where you food comes from, who "cut up my meat," as a teen in Kotzebue says in the film, may not end a war, or make a huge dent in the realm of climate change, but it is ownership and step in taking responsibility for what is around us. I have to say, listing both of these screenings in the same month reminds me of common aspirations, that I hope in some way can outweigh what feels at times like so much divisiveness, and a whole lot of negativity and apathy.
Eating Alaska Screenings Ahead
Winter BOW (Becoming an Outdoors Woman) Workshop, Chickaloon, AK
Alaska Fish and Game BOW
March 12-14, 2010
Don't Buy Food from Strangers Film Series
Tuesdays, March 16,
Akron Main Library Auditorium
(60 S. Main Street, Akron 44326)
6-9 p.m.
Hosted by Countryside Conservancy
Food System Film Festival, Michigan State University,
Saturday, March 20
Movies and Munchies in the Eureka Coop Community Kitchen
Friday March 26, 12 & 6 PM
4th & B street
More News
Want to see Eating Alaska on-line?
Coming very soon for a small fee you can have a 90 day stream, with customized options for institutions. Check it out at New Day Digital.
The Sitka Local Foods Network and Eating Alaska both received a magazine mention in an article about food sustainability in Alaska. Click here to see the article and read about the network, http://sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/.
Ellen Frankenstein, on 03.08.10 @ 19:38AKT
