Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary)

Journey to the "Asparagus Capital of the World" to discover why one little vegetable is so important.

For more information about this film and to take action visit: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/6/asparagus_a_stalkumentary/index.php?fs=...

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• asparagus
• stalk-umentary
• oceana
• county
• michigan
• fair
• trade
• economic
• justice

[missemsnitchesss]

i love asparagus. we grow it. well we grow A LOT of veggies but the asparagus is my favorite.

[CptJimEd]

outstanding job!!

[aklnj]

Does anyoe know if NEEM is an effective replacement for these chemicals?. Its quite obviously not healthy to eat these products with all these cancer causing residue on it.

[jbobier]

Hey Steve,

That's the current estimate with modern farming methods if you include the fuel used to grow, fertilize (a tremendous amount of fertilizer is petroleum based), harvest, and transport food across the country.

We are literally eating petroleum because of how we fertilize our crops.

Jason

[pottygeist]

Congratulations to the filmmakers for exploring the dark side of Free Trade long before it became a convenient talking point on the campaign trail. Hilarious and insightful!

[philcoagogo]

A surprising movie. At first, its quirky and fun, but moves on to explore and explain how America fails to look after its own. Whether its outsourcing jobs or outsourcing food production, the quest for cheaper is not always better, nor is it sustainable.

[stephenrcameron]

Jason,

not sure what kind of food you reference that requires 7-10 calories of energy inputs (I'm assuming this excludes the sun's energy) but it varies greatly based on what you are producing, the cropping methods, etc. Also not sure what bearing imports from S. America have on the energy inputs required to produce crops here. Please expalin :)

cheers,

Steve

[stephenrcameron]

Nice job Kris! Such bittersweet memories of picking asparagus for those slave-driving farmers back in my youth :)

cheers,

Steve

[netrabharas]

I used to pick asparagus as a teen in Oceana County. It was hard work then, but apparently not as difficult as convincing our lawmakers that importing food that can be grown right here in the US doesn't make sense.

[jbobier]

Looks like a great documentary on free trade's effect on small farming in america. I can't wait to see it!!!

In the US it currently takes 7-10 calories of energy to produce 1 calorie of food. This is not sustainable and certainly flying crops from south america to the US is part of the problem.