Cinema Politica has partnered with the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society as the city’s social conscience during Waste Reduction Week.
The two will present the first Maple Ridge screening of the award-winning film, Just Eat It, on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Maple Ridge council chambers.
Filmmakers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin dive into the issue of food waste from farms, through retail, all the way to the back of their own fridge. After catching a glimpse of the billions of dollars of good food that is tossed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive on discarded food.
“We first met filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer when we screened their first film, The Clean Bin Project, with Cinema Politica back in 2011,” said Candace Gordon, a board member of Ridge Meadows Recycling Society. “This couple really has their fingers on the pulse – food waste used to take up over 30 per cent of our garbage, and now people are trying to keep that portion out of the landfills.”
Metro Vancouver’s organics disposal ban came into effect in January 2015, forcing many residents and businesses to separate their food waste from non-organic garbage.
“Keeping organics out of the landfill is good on many levels,” said Ridge Meadows Recycling’s environmental educator Dan Mikolay. “First, the nutrients in the food are able to be recycled into new soil. Second, if they break down in a landfill without oxygen, they produce methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.
“I think Just Eat It is a great film for making people more aware of all the resources that go into growing, transporting, and selling the food they bring home and hopefully inspires them to put effort into making sure it is eaten – or at the very least, composted.”
Rustemeyer and Baldwin have been to film festivals around the world, picking up awards along the way, including three Leo Awards, the EFFY 2015 Grand Jury Prize, and Hot Docs’ Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award
Ridge Meadows Recycling Society owns the local community and educational screening rights for both Just Eat It and The Clean Bin Project, which are available to schools and community groups. To book a screening call 604-463-5545 or visit www.rmrecycling.org. For more information about Cinema Politica, visit www.cinemapolitica.org.