Friday, May 5, 2017

2 SIFF films to watch for

The SIFF press screenings have started and I have two films I want to direct your attention to.

Food Evolution

http://www.foodevolutionmovie.com/#home

Featuring at one point Bill Nye the Science Guy, with Neil deGrasse Tyson as narrator, this documentary takes on the question of GMO food. Like most of you, I've generally been--without much real thought to the issue--on the side of the anti-GMO crowd, mostly because I'll never forgive Monsanto for the use of Agent Orange in Viet Nam. Then, at the recent Science March, I noticed signs that lumped the anti-GMO crowd with anti-vaccine and climate change deniers. That got my attention, so I've been meaning to think the topic through a bit. 

Today I saw a VERY persuasive movie on the subject. Some of the beauties of science are its insistence on basing theory on verifiable facts and its ability to change when confronted with new evidence. In that spirit, I'm siding with the Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson on the GMO controversy. After watching this very good film, I am admitting that I got sucked in by the "Anti" crowd. If folks like us insist that we should "heed the science" on the question of climate change, then we really ought to do the same on the issues of vaccines (hello--no polio!) and, yes, GMOs. I can just hear your eyes bugging out as you read this, so I want to mention one thing I DO have experience with regarding GMOs. 

In the early years of my nursing career, patients with insulin dependent diabetes used insulin that was extracted from the pancreas of either cows or pigs. Doctors orders for insulin were often denoted with which type was to be used, because you couldn't just switch back and forth. Patients would build up a resistance to the cow or pig component of the insulin and require ever greater doses of the stuff to get the desired effect, among other problems. Then somebody here in Seattle genetically modified a yeast so it would generate insulin in the lab. This "Humulin" insulin does not have the beef or pig component. During the first years of its use, nurses had to be careful because we'd get patients who would come in getting whopping doses of beef or pork insulin and we could easily overdose them by administering the same dose of humulin. Nowadays, I think pretty much all insulin is humulin, with no escalating tolerance, much more consistent dosing, and for vegetarians, no sacrifice of a sacred cow. There can be no question in my nurse's mind that humulin insulin, one of the early practical uses for a GMO, was a great invention. I'm all for it, without any hesitation. Oddly enough, although I knew well the story of humulin insulin, I never translated that support over to the food GMO contoversy. I unthinkingly went along with the anti-GMO craze, partly because of my aforementioned disregard for Monsanto Corp, and mostly, I guess, because I was swayed by the WTO protesters (Vandana Shiva and others). This isn't the first wrong road I've been down but just like navigation, once you realize you're going the wrong way, what choice is there but to correct course. I don't relish admitting I was such a shallow fool, but that's what I'm doing now.

OK that's the end of my confession, go see the movie that inspired it. 

Chavela



If you are a fan of the Mexican style of music typified by the song "La Llorona," or true stories of the lesbian lover of (among others) Frieda Kahlo, or ready to be inspired by a very strong Mexican singer who in her later years was promoted by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, then this doc is for you. Incredible music, amazing story, about a woman I had heard, but never heard of. I couldn't get enough of this film, and encourage you to enjoy it too.

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