“If We Knew is a lyrical and passionate documentary about paediatricians who work in an intensive-care unit for premature newborns at Groningen’s University Hospital. A film essay about the compassion needed to heal the sick and also occasionally needed to hasten the death of a sick child who is suffering unbearably and without hope. In 2005, religious groups in Italy and the U.S. accused Dutch paediatricians of using Nazi methods and allegedly killing premature newborns because of their handicaps. Yet doctors have sworn the Hippocratic oath that they will do all they can to heal the sick and save lives. Thanks to modern technology they can do more and more. As a consequence they have to ask themselves if every human being who can be kept alive will lead a life worth living. Should every life be saved at whatever cost? From up close and without comment, If We Knew shows how a group of paediatricians cope with tough ethical questions and the impossible decisions they have to make. “

“In many African countries, HIV/AIDS is called “Slim.” In this film, seven African children, ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old, talk about what it’s like to be HIV positive. Of the seven children, four are girls and three are boys. Three of the children have lost both parents and three have lost one parent to AIDS.

In the film, the children discuss how old were they when the found out they were HIV positive; how they felt when they first learned they were infected; how they are treated at home and at school; how the illness affects their daily lives. They also talk about their dreams for the future, and the career paths they hope to some day follow. We film the children in their homes. Two of the children come from families with adequate resources, while five live in poor economic conditions which make fighting the disease more difficult. An official selection of the Amakula Kampala Film Festival, 2004.”

Raising Awareness:
-Movie Nights
-Journal Club
-Observance of World Malaria Day

“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.”

Post Film Discussion:

Challenges to eating healthy:
-Time
-Money
-Resources
-Skills
-Information
-???

Sources of food:
-Fast food
-Take-out
-Gas stations
-Convenience stores
-Casual dining
-Coffee shops
-Grocery stores: packaged mealsmade from scratch
-Farmers markets/roadside stands/flea markets
-Home/community garden
-LMU dining hall/hospital cafeterias
-Vending machines
-Club meetings
-Event dinners
-Pizza Lunches
-???

Possible Next Steps:
-Role of the Clubs (Health Equity, Integrative Medicine, SOMA)
-Sharing of recipes, tips, techniques (cooking “classes”)
-Group cooking sessions
-Adopt a Supermarket
-Gardner’s Grove (LMU community garden) or garden at home
-Buying Club/food coop
-Community Supports Agriculture (CSA)
-???

Beyond DCOM
-Farm to school programs
-School gardens
-???

Continuing the Conversation:
-Better Know a Farmer Series
-Visit Polyface Farm (other farms?)
-Staying Informed
-???

Resources

http://www.foodincmovie.com

http://www.michaelpollan.com/

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/ (Joel Salatin’s Farm)
Also featured in the film- Eric Schlosser, Gary Hirshberg, Barbara Kowalcyk

http://www.foodsecurity.org

http://www.farmtoschool.org/

http://www.farmtocollege.org/

http://www.noharm.org/us_canada/issues/food/(Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food Systems Campaign)
http://www.localharvest.org/ (CSAs)
http://letsmove.gov (Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign)

http://www.foodborneillness.org

http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/notinmyfood/about.html (food safety advocacy)
http://www.kyagr.com/kyproud/index.htm (Kentucky local food campaign)
http://picktnproducts.org/ (Tennessee local food campaign)
http://www.buylocalvirginia.org/ (Virginia local food campaign)

Paulette M. Niewczyk, MPH, PhD and Jamson S. Lwebuga-Mukasa, MD, PhD.
Journal of Equity in Health. October 2008 Vol. 1, No. 1, 22-40.