Filmography - Food

This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. 

For complete, up-to-date holdings please search the library catalog search box on the Media Services homepage. (http://www.american.edu/library/mediaservices/) Finding Aids on the same page includes other subject oriented content.

For more information take a look at the Streaming Video Guides and Browsing Collections.

Additionally there are over 7000 streaming videos in Films-On-Demand on food topics. Search "food" here: 

Annapurna Mahila Mandal (Bombay). 1990. 1 videodisc (12 min.). Describes a society of more than 5,000 who provide meals in their homes to migrant workers whose families remain in the country.  The society was formed to obtain low-interest loans for the women who were previously charged interest of as much as 150% by the grocers or money-lenders for the food supplies.  The major drawback of the arrangement for the women is the long hours with no days off. DVD 1925

Banana split. 2002. 1 videodisc (46 min.). "Beginning with consumers in a local fruit market; this film winds its way through the hustle and bustle of a major distribution centre, to the daily challenges of everyday life in Honduras. Viewers find out about the history of bananas, the highly sophisticated system of production and transportation involved in bringing the fruit to market, and are introduced to sponsored efforts to help secure the banana as a staple food source in the developing world. In Asia, Africa and Latin America, the banana represents the fine line between life, misery and death for millions of people. Viewers learn not only about bananas, but about the problems of marketing and distribution, the effects of disease and natural disasters, the role played by international development, and are given reason to pause the next time they visit their local fruit seller." --from www.magiclantern.ca. DVD 6940

Birdsong & coffee: A wake up call. 2006. 1 videodisc (56 min). "What is the connection between coffee farmers, birds and ourselves? Why are 25 million coffee farmers impoverished while we spend more for our coffee? Why are North American songbirds becoming harder and harder to find? What is the difference between Free Trade and Fair Trade? This film explores the answers to these questions and many more. We hear from experts and students, from coffee lovers and bird lovers. But most importantly, we hear from the coffee farmers themselves and learn how their lives and ours are inextricably joined in ways that we need to understand."--container. DVD 5598

Black gold. 2006. 1 videodisc (ca. 78 min.). "After oil, coffee is the most actively traded commodity in the world with $80 billion in retail sales. But for every $3 cup of coffee, a coffee farmer receives only 3 cents. Most of the money goes to the middlemen, especially the four giant conglomerates which control the coffee market.  Tracing the path of the coffee consumed each day to the farmers who produce the beans, Black Gold asks us to 'wake up and smell the coffee', to face the unjust conditions under which our favorite drink is produced and to decide what we can do about it"--Container. DVD 2245

Fishing in the sea of greed. 1998. 1 videodisc (45 min.). Documents the response of traditional fishing communities and rice farmers to the threat of displacement by overfishing and pollution resulting from industrial fishing practices such as use of gigantic factory ships. DVD 3007

Guatemala: the human price of coffee. What in the world? 2005. 1 videodisc (26 min.). Owners of small coffee farms and members of the the coffee cooperative Manos Campesinas are interviewed in this documentary about coffee production in Guatemala. Thanks to the Fair Trade Market, a European organization that guarantees a price for the farmers and finds buyers, cooperative members are earning 40% more than independent small farmers who sell on the local market. DVD 6299 and Streaming video

The invisible wall. Award winning films and videos. 1993. 1 videodisc (54 min.). Presents issues of the power in food politics, roles of multi-national corporations, Third World debt, and trade barriers in fueling poverty and environmental destruction in the world's poorest countries. DVD 6453

Malawi: Nation going hungry. What in the world? 2005. 1 videodisc (26 min.). Documents economic and social conditions in Malawi, where 3 million of a 12 million population live in abject poverty.  During the 1990s, non-governmental organizations such as the World Food Program distributed seeds and farm tools to the poor, and the government allowed them to live and farm on public land.  The program's subsidies supported the farmers during poor growing seasons.  The World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have forced the Malawi government to stop the subsidies, starving millions.  AIDS is so pervasive in Malawi that many widows prefer starvation for themselves and their families to seeking a new mate.  Due to AIDS and food shortages, there are more than one million orphans in Malawi. DVD 4428

McLibel: Two people who wouldn't say McSorry. 2005. 1 videodisc (85 min.). Two Greenpeace activists were among a group who distributed a leaflet outlining the wrong doings on varous fronts by McDonald's Corporation. Instead of appologizing as required under British law the fought them in court with a minimal budget and no staff costing McDonald's millions of pounds in court costs. DVD 7159

The price of aid. 2004. 1 videodisc (56 min.). This video discusses U.S. donations of food for famine relief in foreign countries through a case-study in Zamibia, and the complex relationships between international aid, international media, American business and politics, and the impact on local agriculture, public health and international trade relations. DVD 3008

The true cost of food. 2004. 1 videodisc (15 min.). The United States, with less than five per cent of the world's people, consumes over twenty five percent of its resources. This documentary focused on the one major aspect of American consumption that is probably the easiest to change, its dietary lifestyle. DVD 4167

We feed the world. 2007? 1 videodisc (96 min.). Vividly reveals the dysfunctionality of the industrialized world food system and shows what world hunger has to do with us. Includes interviews with fishermen, farmers and drivers, as well as Jean Ziegler of the UN, Karl Otrok of seed manufacturer Pioneer, and Peter Brabeck of Nestle International. DVD 4723

When the cows come home. Life 4: Millennium series: Life 4 (Bullfrog Films, inc.). 2004. 1 videodisc (23 min.). This film explores the 'Jamaica Hope,' the island's very own dairy cow, bred specially to withstand the tropical heat. But despite the success of the breed and unprecedented consumer demand for milk, the dairy industry is facing a crisis, since the Jamaica Hope is under threat from subsidised European dairy farmers. DVD 1691

The world bank: The great experiment. 1997. 2 videocassettes (104 min.). Film offers a glimpse both of the inner workings of the World Bank and its efforts to bring economic stability to Africa by presenting a case study of proposed development projects in Uganda over a twelve-month period. Includes footage of closed-door meetings and private conversations between officials.  Streaming video