MVFF: Film Fest, Food Bank Link For Food Drive

Is a person on food stamps headed in the express lane towards obesity?

That's the question, among others, asked by East Bay couple Yoav and Shira Potash in their new documentary, Food Stamped, which makes its world premiere Saturday and next Tuesday at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

As part of its Active Cinema initiative, the festival has organized a food drive to accompany the film's two screenings, hoping the film inspires people to donate a range of healthy, non-perishable foods. Bins will be set up at both the CineArts at Sequoia in Mill Valley and the Rafael Film Center in San Rafaeal to collect food donations.

"Our Active Cinema initiative is intended to connect the dots between the experience of the film and our audience members who say they are inspired to do more after the film," festival programming director Zoe Elton said. "This food drive is giving them the chance to do that."

In the spirit of Morgan Spurlock's much-acclaimed Super Size Me, Yoav and Shira Potash embarked on a week-long journey to live on food stamps and uncover the direct links between poverty and obesity. The result is Food Stamped, an hour-long documentary that attempts to find out if it is even possible for someone on food stamps to eat well enough to stay healthy.

Shira Potash teaches nutrition-based cooking classes to elementary school children, helping them to love fruits and vegetables and make healthy choices in their lives. Yoav Potash is a filmmaker and is described as "her wryly suffering husband" that helps her "unravel America's food politics and highlight those fighting to get vegetables back into kids' diets."

The food drive will be book-ended by the two showings of Food Stamped, which screens at the Sequoia on Saturday at 1 p.m. and at the Rafael next Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m. Food donation bins will be available Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. and Monday through Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

All donations will go to the Marin Food Bank, which is co-presenting the film along with the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services.

Food donation bins will be placed both inside and outside of the Sequoia and the Rafael. Whole Foods Market will be donating bags to hand out to attendees to use to bring food back.