By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Urban or rural, food is a connection shared by all. But it’s also a topic many consumers are hungry to learn more about.
Hill County Farm Bureau (CFB) hosted a screening of the documentary Food Evolution to spark dialogue about food and the farmers who grow it.
“We took a controversial topic and had a great debate about it,” Hill CFB President John Hoyle said. “I wanted to do this in a college setting, because there’s a greater diversity of backgrounds than we would typically get hosting events at our county office.”
The film looks at the science of growing food and provides facts based on scientific literature. But it also portrays viewpoints from anti-GMO activists.
“I got some feedback from the professors that their students really enjoyed the film,” Hoyle said. “They thought it did a good job of presenting the facts and showing different sides of this debate from a scientific standpoint and not just people’s untested opinions.”
More than 140 people attended the event on Monday, Sept. 17, at Hill College.
Following the documentary, a panel discussion comprised of two farmers, a county judge and a natural health practitioner was held.
Hill College students and members of the surrounding community asked questions about biotechnology, the use of glyphosate and other farming practices.
The panel included: John Paul Dineen, North Texas farmer; Rodney Schronk, Central Texas farmer; Justin Lewis, Central Texas farmer and county judge; and Candice Barsh, certified holistic nutrition practitioner and certified natural health practitioner.
“Anything can be toxic in too great of a quantity,” Schronk said in response to a question about herbicide toxicity. “Even water can be toxic if you drink too much of it.”
Hoyle said he was pleased with the level of debate and engagement, even from those who may not agree with his or other farmers’ growing methods and choices.
“We needed a healthy debate, and I think we got that,” Hoyle said. “We take it for granted that people know agriculture, but that’s not the case at all.”
This was the first time for Hill CFB to host a documentary screening and panel discussion for their Texas Food Connection Day activity.
Texas Food Connection Day is a year-round effort to bring farmers and consumers together to celebrate food and the work that goes into growing it. Texas Food Connection Day events are unique to each county, but the events all focus on cultivating relationships between farmers and consumers.
”We wanted something more engaging for this year’s Food Connection than what we had done in the past, something that would help us interact with the community more,” Hoyle said.
Food Evolution is available on iTunes, Amazon and Hulu.
Learn more about the movie at https://www.foodevolutionmovie.com/.