Community Cinema Vashon Soul Food Junkies

You are invited to enjoy another FREE Community Cinema Vashon Event. We will show SOUL FOOD JUNKIES at Vashon Theatre, Tuesday, January 29 at 6pm. We believe that this interesting film, shown earlier this month on the PBS-Independent Lens Series, will offer many topics for a lively after film audience discussion. Food nourishes us and keeps us alive. It’s pleasurable and it’s comforting. It signifies home and family. But....food preferences, availability, preparation, and health are choices for all of us to consider.
 
In SOUL FOOD JUNKIES filmmaker Byron Hurt sets out on a historical and culinary journey to learn more about the soul food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. Hurt’s exploration was inspired by his father’s lifelong love affair with the high-fat, calorie-rich traditional soul food diet and his unwillingness to give it up even in the face of a life-threatening health crisis. Hurt discovers that the relationship between African Americans and culinary dishes like ribs, grits, and fried chicken is culturally based, deep-rooted, complex, and often deadly.
 
Through candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as with doctors, family members, and everyday people, SOUL FOOD JUNKIES puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its positive and negative consequences. It also explores the socioeconomic conditions in predominantly black neighborhoods, where it can be difficult to find healthy options. The film delves into health problems associated with bad eating habits — not just of soul food, with its high fat and salt content, but also of highly processed foods that contain potentially harmful ingredients. Hurt concludes at film’s end that it is not necessary to give up eating our favorite foods altogether. Finding ways to make soul food healthy and eating it in moderation allows us to continue to enjoy the foods we love and live a healthy life at the same time.
 
We have a wonderful community here on Vashon that has done much to make healthy food available. Much has been done to offer education about growing our own and about supporting local farmers. There have been healthy choices made in our schools about the food that is served to our children. The Food Bank with its own garden and the daily community meals served in the churches help to make food available to all. We do have good local grocery stores and minimal need for fast food alternatives which is not true for many other communities and people. We have good resources for healthy activities for our physical bodies. How fortunate we are! But we still need reminders about the importance of healthy food choices and the support of others. Let’s have a great talk about food and ideas for making our community even more healthy and supportive for all.
 
Island GreenTech, Vashon Theatre and VoV partner with Community Cinema Vashon offer your this FREE evening. Community Cinema is a public forum: a space for people to gather who are connected by a love of stories, and a belief in their power to change the world. For more information about the program visit www.communitycinema.org or ccnw.tv (Community Cinema Pacific NW).