''Food Evolution'' is a 2016 documentary directed by

Scott Hamilton Kennedy Scott Hamilton Kennedy (born 1965) is an Academy Award nominated documentary director, as well as a writer, producer, cameraman, and editor. He is the founder of Black Valley Films, a film production company based in Silver Lake, California. H ...

. The film was produced by Scott Hamilton Kennedy and Trace Sheehan. Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, ''Food Evolution'' tackles the schism that has arisen between scientists and consumers over how to feed our expanding population safely and sustainably.

Synopsis

Food Evolution follows the controversy surrounding GMOs and food. Traveling from Hawaiian

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

groves, to banana farms in Uganda to the cornfields of Iowa, the film discusses the emotions and the science behind food production. It follows specific cases amongst local legislation within the United States and in Africa, addressing how misinformation and fear can overwhelm objective analysis. Topics in the film range from:

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

, population demand,

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

use, and general health surrounding GMOs. Through each topic, the film analyzes what data, evidence and sources are being used to argue one way or the other. People featured in the film, in order of appearance, include Margaret Wille, Jeffrey Smith, Charles Benbrook, Dennis Gonsalves, Alison Van Eenennaam,

Pamela Ronald Pamela Christine Ronald (born January 29, 1961) is an American plant pathologist and geneticist. She is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis and a member of thInnovative Ge ...

, Nathanael Johnson, Emma Naluyima,

Mark Lynas Mark Lynas (born 1973) is a British author and journalist whose work is focused on environmentalism and climate change. He is a contributor to ''New Statesman'', ''The Ecologist'', ''Granta ''and ''Geographical ''magazines, and ''The Guardian'' ...

, Zen Honeycut, and Raoul Adamchak. It also features interviews from Michael Pollan, Andrew Kimbrell,

Vandana Shiva Vandana Shiva (born 5 November 1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalisation author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred to as "Gandhi ...

Robert Fraley Robert Thomas Fraley (January 25, 1953, Danville, Illinois) was Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto, where he helped to develop the first genetically modified seeds. He retired from Monsanto in June 2018. He adv ...

Marion Nestle Marion Nestle (born 1936) is an American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate. She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Emerita at New York University. Her research examines s ...

and

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

, as well as farmers and scientists from around the world.

Production

Prior to production, the Food Evolution producers conducted over 100

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

interviews with experts in food, science,

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, and activism. After thorough research, filming began around the world, from Hawaii to Kenya, with Larkin Donley as cinematographer. Editors included Alex Blatt, Scott D. Hanson, and

with music by William Kingswood.

Premiere

The film first premiered at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village for the Doc NYC festival on November 12, 2016.

Reception

The film was critically very well-received. It has an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, with an average rating of 7.5/10 by top critics.

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' describes the film as, "the unusual issue film that deals in counterintuitive reason rather than barely controlled hysteria." Serena Donadoni of ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' referred to it as a, "scrupulous, optimistic documentary" describing, "the new reality for American scientists: the challenge of reaching a public bombarded by conspiracy theories and fear mongering." John DeFore of the ''

Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' said of the film that it is "A polished and provocative call for activists to be as scientifically minded as they believe they are." Daniel Gold of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said, "With a soft tone, respectful to opponents but insistent on the data, "Food Evolution" posits an inconvenient truth for organic boosters to swallow: In a world desperate for safe,

sustainable food A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agr ...

, G.M.O.s may well be a force for good."Gold, Daniel M. "Review: In ‘Food Evolution,’ Scientists Strike Back." ''The New York Times'', 22 June 2017
www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/movies/food-evolution-review.html
Retrieved 2018-07-30. It was also chosen as a Critic’s pick by ''The New York Times'' and has screened in over 200 locations around the globe as of July 2018.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 6188658 American documentary films 2016 films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films