Coffee & Sugar featured at Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival
By Contributor
The sugar found in those bags of Halloween candy is far from hidden, but what about the less obvious sugars found in the foods we purchase and consume every day?
This Wednesday (November 2) at the Capitol Theatre, Day 2 of the Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival explores this question.
That Sugar Film is the work of Australia’s Damon Gameau who embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as ‘healthy’.
Through this highly entertaining and informative journey, Damon highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry, and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves.
The heart of the film lies with the host and ‘human lab rat’. Damon hasn’t eaten sugar for three years. Under the guidance of a team of scientists and nutritionists, he eats a high sugar diet of 40 teaspoons of sugar a day for 60 days.
The catch is that he does this without consuming any soft drinks, chocolate, ice cream or confectionery. He only eats the perceived ‘healthy’ foods that are in fact laden with hidden sugars like low fat yogurt, muesli bars, juices and cereals.
While conducting this experiment Damon heads to an Aboriginal community to look at sugar’s effects on indigenous health and what steps are being taken to educate and engage the locals. He then heads to the USA to meet the world’s leading experts on the topic of sugar, plus meet a boy who has a condition called ‘Mountain Dew Mouth’ from regularly drinking 12 cans of the soft drink per day.
He investigates the manipulation of the food companies in placing sugar into their products and the belligerent campaigns that have taken place to keep any awareness about the dangers of sugar out of the public’s view.
The film is presented by Mountain Trek, Red Light Ramen, Dr. Michael Smith’s Fusion Health Radio, Ellenwood Homes and Columbia Basin Trust.
That Sugar Film is followed by another film themed around the second most globally traded commodity next to crude oil – coffee.
Caffeinated will warm the hearts of Kootenay coffee lovers with stories from people who have dedicated their lives to it. From seed to mug, coffee, and the process by which it is created, has shaped the lives of thousands of people worldwide.
Working with Geoff Watts, famous green coffee buyer, the filmmakers travel to America’s most populous coffee-drinking cities and to producing countries, interviewing connoisseurs and farmers alike.
With a focus on the social and cultural landscape of coffee, Caffeinated gives the coffee consumer unprecedented access to the farmers responsible for growing that perfect bean, and the roasters and baristi responsible for brewing that perfect cup.
New Nelson roaster No. 6 Coffee Co. will offer samples of their coffee.
The film is presented by Oso Negro, Empire Coffee, No.6 Coffee Co., Kootenay Co-op and Columbia Basin Trust.
The Film Festival continues on Friday, November 4, 7pm at Expressions Theatre Cafe with a screening of Seeds of Time and live music from Dawna McLennan (harp) and Jessica Doerner (Cello).
When: Wednesday, November 2, 6:30pm (That Sugar Film), 8:30pm (Caffeinated)
Where: The Capitol Theatre, Nelson
Cost: $10 general / $7 18 & under / $15 double-bill / $45 Festival Pass
Advance Tickets: filmfest.deconstructingdinner.com
Photo Caption: Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body. Wednesday, November 2, 6:30pm, Capitol Theatre. — Submitted photo
