Think Global Act Rural

(E)* Hopscotch DVD

This French documentary picks up where its predecessor Food Inc. left off.

It presents a solution-based argument for action using interviews with farmers, economists, microbiologists and philosophers concerned by the effects industrialised agriculture has on the planet.

Director Coline Serreau (Three Men and a Cradle, Chaos) moves back to her roots in documentary while keeping the hopefulness of the comedy films that followed.

Think Global analyses the post-war origins of today’s industrial farming methods and the difficulties caused for traditional farmers by the blossoming of chemical farming and patents.

“What was priceless in biodiversity was the freedom and self-sufficiency each farmer enjoyed, as they could keep and select the seeds which were most suited to their land’s specificities,” argues Serreau.

She is concerned that when the oil and the chemicals used for producing these patented agriculture chemicals run out, extensive farming soil will be ruined and so will the food security so many of us take for granted.

Watchers learn of the150,000 farmers who committed suicide in India, patented plants that cannot produce seeds, unemployment and interruption of natural processes in the global agricultural industry.

Serreau finds that part of the solution lies in going back to basics — in organic farming and the support of local agriculture.

Her argument is based on three years of travel with a handheld camera seeking out those who are looking for alternative, long-term solutions. “Films full of warnings and disasters have been made and have served their purpose but now it is time to show that solutions do exist,” said Serreau.

Think Global is a reminder that the food we eat is politically loaded and of the value of buying from trusted local sources.

Lyndal Irons

*The (E) classification means that the documentary is exempt from classification.