New documentary contrasts industrial ag with traditional Hawaiian model: ʻĀINA

Derek Markham (@derekmarkham)

This short film, while focused on the island of Kauai, highlights the challenges and crises we will all have to face on our island planet.

When we lose sight of the importance of taking care of the Earth that feeds us, we sign our own death warrant. That’s one of the messages presented in a powerful new documentary, and it may seem ridiculously obvious to those who are working diligently toward sustainability on a global scale, but for many people, the connection between our individual lives, our environment, and how we produce our food and energy isn’t nearly as transparent or important as it should be. Like many films about food and farming and the environment, I think everyone who eats should watch them, and this new documentary from Living Ancestors and Sherpas Cinema is no different, as it’s well worth the 20 minutes or so it takes to watch it. It’s called ʻĀINA: That Which Feeds Us (ʻĀINA means “that which feeds us” in the Hawaiian language), and it offers a powerful look at the effects of our industrialized food system. Although this film focuses specifically on the crises facing the island of Kauai, Hawaii, it also serves to highlight our global situation, with Kauai as the microcosm and the Earth as the macrocosm, and the pressures and influences that are present in Hawaii are also present at many other locations around the world.