Clare Watson Bartolomei
Moderator
Claire owns and operates Lola’s. She has a background in restaurants and international development. Her graduate work focused on how globalized food and agricultural systems contribute to food crises.
Film Information
Join local experts to discuss the systemic issues facing those who nourish our communities. Knuth Farms will discuss their experience “going against the grain” by adopting organic farming practices. In conversation with Lola’s, an acclaimed farm-to-table scratch kitchen, they will explore the essential role of ethical, sustainable, and community-driven systems that bring food from farm to fork. To learn more about Science on Screen, click here.
Ruth Reichl—trailblazing NY Times food critic, groundbreaking Gourmet Magazine editor, best-selling memoirist, and for decades one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture—grows concerned about the fate of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs as they wrestle with both immediate and systemic challenges as the pandemic takes hold. Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines.
As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia, farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx, a New England fisherman, and maverick chefs on both coasts. As she witnesses them navigate intractable circumstances, Reichl shares pieces of her own life, and in doing so, begins to take stock of the path she has traveled and the ideals she left behind. Through her eyes, we get to know the humanity and struggle behind the food we eat.
COLLABORATORS
Corina Figueroa
Panelist
Corina Figueroa, chef and owner of Lola’s, has been a lifelong advocate of sustainable and organic food. Before opening a restaurant, she was a very conscious consumer and lived a plastic-free life. When Corina became the owner of a restaurant, she realized she was in a new and distinct place in the food supply chain. She was no longer the end consumer but a link in the chain to the public. Corina has imparted her food values into her business model even in challenging economic climates.
Kathryn Justman
Panelist
Kathryn Justman is the Kitchen Manager at Lola’s and has spent her adult life working with food. After college, she became a cheese maker and moved to Branched Oak Farms, where she made cheese, farmed an acre of land, and raised chickens. Katie organized farmers' markets and sold cheese to restaurants. She eventually made the move from farm to restaurant and has worked at Lola’s for almost three years.
Kerry & Angela Knuth
Panelists
Kerry Knuth and his wife Angela have a farm in Mead, Nebraska, with their two sons, Gregory and Garrison. Kerry is the fourth generation to farm their land. The Knuths focus on quality production by adopting new technology, implementing data analytics, and pursuing regenerative farming strategies. Since 2020, 380 of their 2,200 acres have been organically produced. They grow corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa on their farm.
As part of our See Change initiative, we strive to showcase the work of women and non-binary individuals and their behind-the-scenes involvement in a production.
This film was directed and produced by Laura Gabbert with cinematography by Martina Radwan and produced by Dawn Bonder, Rachel Cohen, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Sigrid Dyekjær, Jana Edelbaum, Shaleece Haas, Melony Lewis, Lauren Lexton, Caroline Libresco, Anna Louie, Paula P. Manzanedo, Alexandra Margolin, Phoebe Papademetriou, Patty Quillin, Ruth Reichl, Lisa Remington, Robina Riccitiello, Susan Rockefeller, Regina K. Scully, Nathalie Seaver, Jenn Lee Smith, Nancy Stephens, Heidi Stolte, Janet Tittiger, Andrea van Beuren, Marci Wiseman, Jamie Wolf, and Mariah Yamamoto.
Film Stills
