Food Forward TV is the new PBS series about Americans transforming our food!

Media Contact: Mary Lugo 770-623-8190 [email protected] Cara White 843-881-1480 [email protected] Abbe Harris 908-233-7990 [email protected]

Press: “Stories like these present hopeful solutions to creating more sustainable sources of nourishment” - Sean Timberlake, SF Weekly

“Instead of the dire, depressing images of the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc., they’re looking at the people who’ve rejected the industrial model in favor of small-scale, sustainable food production.” - Bonnie Azab Powell, Grist

“One can imagine a student answering Michael Pollan or Alice Waters to every question about the food movement in the future. Fortunately, ‘Food Forward TV,’ a new documentary series premiering on PBS, will highlight the lesser-known food rebels across the country.” - Ramon Gonzalez, Tree Hugger

“This isn’t another anti-industry documentary filled with doom, gloom, and guilt. These are well-told, beautifully-shot stories of people who are making a difference to the food and farming problems in this country.” - Lisa Landi, KQED Presents

“Food Forward TV… gets to the meat of a question that has yet to be answered by today’s TV shows: Where does your food come from?” - Megan Bedard, Take Part

The Show: Food Forward TV is entertaining and educating -- and inspiring a new generation to take action. The series highlights innovators and pioneers – food rebels – who are changing the way we eat. PBS is set to air the first 13 episodes of the James Beard Award nominated TV series starting September 2014.

Synopsis: Food Forward TV showcases innovators and pioneers – food rebels – who are transforming the way we grow and eat our food. We meet farmers, chefs, teachers, scientists, fishermen and ranchers in more than 50 cities across the country who are all providing new solutions to help combat America’s growing food challenges. Every episode features beautiful cinematography, clever animation, cooking segments and original music videos, blending personal storytelling with a unique perspective on some of the most pressing issues of the day. Episodes:

Episode 1: Go Fish! By mid-century, 90 percent of the world’s commercial fish may be tapped out. But we’re not sunk yet. Food Forward sets sail with a different breed of fishermen who make their living on the water while also treading lightly upon it. Meet old school fishermen in the Pacific Northwest reviving the tuna industry, young fishermen (and women) creating Community Supported Fisheries along the Eastern seaboard and the next generation of fish farmers in Western Massachusetts.

Featuring: Shannon Eldredge, Co-Owner of Cape Cod Community Supported Fishery - Chatham, Cape Cod, MA Sean Barrett, Co-Founder of Dock to Dish - Montauk, NY Josh Goldman, Co-Founder & CEO of Australis - Springfield, MA Paul Greenberg, Author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food - New York City, NY Dan Barber, Co-Owner & Executive Chef of Blue Hill Restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns - New York City & Hudson Valley, NY Stefanie Sacks, Culinary Nutritionist (MS|CNS|CDN) - Montauk, NY

Episode 2: The Meat of the Matter Cheap meat is actually quite costly, taking its toll on America’s health and the environment. The good news is it’s now possible to have your steak and eat it, too. Food Forward TV meets a new breed of ranchers who are leading the red meat revolution by returning to traditional styles of raising cattle. Iowan bison ranchers, Georgian cattlemen and Californian cowgirls all have one thing in common— grass.

Featuring: Anya Fernald, Co-Founder & CEO of Belcampo Meat Co. - Shasta Valley, CA Aimee Danch, Pasture Manager at Belcampo Meat Co. - Shasta Valley, CA Will Harris, Owner of White Oak Pastures - Bluffton, GA Bob Jackson, Owner of Tall Grass Bison - Promise City, IA Jay Barrows, Musician - Bluffton, GA

Episode 3: Seeds of Change Seeds represent hope, a new beginning. Amid battles over GMO crops and monocultures that dominate American farmlands, Food Forward TV travels to meet seed savers pursuing grassroots alternatives. From the dry deserts of Arizona to corn and soybean growers in Iowa and Illinois, genetic diversity does matter and the roots of change are taking hold.

Featuring: Matthew Dillon, Director of Seed Matters - Emeryville, CA Justine Hernandez, Librarian for the Pima County Library - Tucson, AZ Tyler Lorenzen, Seed Researcher at World Food Processing - Oskaloosa, IA Jerry Lorenzen, Founder of World Food Processing - Oskaloosa, IA Bill McDorman, Director of Native Seed S.E.A.R.C.H. - Tucson, AZ Emily Geertz, Corn and Soybean Farmer - Iowa City, IA Keith Schlapkohl, Co-Founder of Genesys Grain Genetics, Awful Purdies, Musicians - Iowa City, IA Brian Lopez, Musician - Tucson, AZ

Episode 4: SOS: Save Our Soil The top six inches of soil are the most precious, yet least understood ecosystem on earth—yet we continue to treat soil like dirt. Food Forward TV gets down and dirty with large-scale Midwestern composters, California carbon farmers reversing climate change and a West Virginia poultry farmer creating ‘biochar’ from chicken poop. Explore new frontiers beneath our feet that just might save our soil.

Featuring: Josh Frye, Owner of Frye Poultry and Biochar Expert - Wardensville, WV John Wick, Co-owner of the Nicasio Native Grass Ranch and Co-founder of the Marin Carbon Project - Nicasio, CA Whendee Silver, Professor of Ecosystem Ecology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley Gary Andersen, Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley Clay Nielsen, Compost Site Manager at Midwest Biosystems - Tampico, IL Alan Dale, Owner of Rare Earth Diversified Systems - Walnut, IL Old Tyme Pickers, Musicians - Wardensville, WV

Episode 5: Modern Milk American dairy is undergoing a renaissance. A cottage industry of dairy farmers, cheesemakers and creameries are creating delicious alternatives to industrial milk. In this episode of Food Forward TV, we meet West Coast raw milk revolutionaries, Vermont cheese entrepreneurs making serious cheddar, and ice cream innovators in San Francisco and New York City.

Featuring: Bruce German, Professor, Food Chemist & Director of UC Davis Foods For Health Institute - Davis, CA Mark McAfee, CEO & Managing Member of Organic Pastures Dairy - Fresno, CA Charlotte Smith, Owner of Champoeg Creamery - St.Paul, OR Andy Kehler, Co-Founder of Jasper Hill Farm - Greensboro Bend, VT Mateo Kehler, Co-Founder of Jasper Hill Farm - Greensboro Bend, VT Sofia Brittan, Entrepreneur & Ice Cream Maker at Victory Garden NYC - New York City, NY Robyn Sue Fisher, Founder of Smitten Ice Cream - San Francisco, CA Laura Lackey’s Rhythm Revue, Musicians - San Francisco, CA

Episode 6: School Lunch Revival All public school kids have access to free or reduced-price lunch. But affordability doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for them. In this episode of Food Forward TV, Detroit’s renegade lunch lady is not only serving kids healthy food, she’s got them growing it too! Houston schools are joining a national movement with “seed to plate” classroom cooking and in North Carolina a new generation of service members is connecting farmers and schools.

Featuring: Betti Wiggins, Executive Director, Office of Food Services at DPS - Detroit, MI Mike Garbarz, Special Education Teacher for DPS - Detroit, MI Sarah Tanner, Program Coordinator for Seed-To-Plate Nutrition Education - Houston, TX Caroline Stover, Service Member for Food Corps - Warrenton, NC Gabe Cumming, Director of Warren County Economic Development Commission - Warrenton, NC

Episode 7: The Future of Food A new breed of passionate farmers, chefs and scientists are revamping the American food system. Combining people’s passions and technological ingenuity, Food Forward TV visits tech-savvy growers flying crop-monitoring drones in California’s Central Valley. We step into CU Boulder’s lab to map the human microbiome with visionary food journalist Michael Pollan. And one woman tests consumer tastes by serving up an alternative source of protein – edible insects!

Featuring: Michael Pollan, Journalist, Activist, Professor of Journalism, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism & Author of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation - Berkeley, CA Chris Anderson, CEO 3D Robotics - Berkeley, CA Brandon Basso, Senior Research & Development Engineer 3D Robotics - Berkeley, CA Hassan Amin, Almond and Pistachio Farmer - Merced, CA Rob Knight, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder Daniella Sawaya, Program Manager at La Cocina - San Francisco, CA Monica Martinez, Owner of Don Buguito - San Francisco, CA Mariachi Tradicion Mexicana, Musicians - Oakland, CA

Episode 8: Food (Justice) for All All across the country, the ways and means of America's small farmers are evolving. Young Hispanic farm laborers in California’s Salinas Valley are moving up the economic ladder, training to become tomorrow’s organic farm owners. In Houston, Congolese refugees are creating communities around vacant urban lots, and in nearby Dallas, a struggling college commits an unthinkable act of football heresy — plowing their gridiron into a garden and transforming a social need into an delicious educational opportunity.

Featuring: Octavio Garcia, Farmer at ALBA - Salinas,CA Chris Brown, Executive Director of ALBA - Salinas, CA Elizabeth Wattley, Director of Service Learning and Servant Leadership at Paul Quinn College - Dallas, TX Hannah Koski, Director of Farming Operations of WE Over Me Farm - Dallas, TX Cassie Green, Co-Owner of Green Grocer - Dallas, TX Teresa O’Donnell, President & Executive Director of Plant It Forward - Houston, TX Guy Moulet, Plant It Forward Farmer - Houston, TX

Episode 9: Quest for Water How can agriculture use less water and still grow enough food for everyone? Are we finally emerging from the water wars of the west that pitted Native American tribes and environmentalists against farmers and ranchers? In this episode, Food Forward TV dives into solutions that some water users are discovering to protect this most precious resource in the face of drought, politics and environmental conflicts.

Featuring: Tim Thornhill, Partner and Co-owner of Mendocino Wine Company - Ukiah, CA Jeff Mitchell, Water Team for Klamath Tribes - Klamath Falls, OR Holly Doremus, Co-author of Water War in the Klamath Basin - Berkeley, CA Dennis Falaschi, General Manager of the Panoche Water District - Firebaugh, CA Aaron Mandell, Owner of WaterFX - Firebaugh, CA Rick Walsh, Farmer for Fresh Green Organics - Klamath Falls, OR Dan Chin, Co-owner of Wong Potatoes - Klamath Falls, OR Alec Smith, 4th Generation Farmer for Turlock Fruit Co. - Firebaugh, CA

Episode 10: Make Food, Not Waste Americans throw away 34 million tons of food each year. That’s like tossing a quarter of the groceries we buy directly into the trash. But where some see garbage, others find green gold. In this episode, Food Forward TV explores the secret life of food scraps, landfills and the people who love them. San Francisco is leading the charge in composting municipal food waste, a food bank is rescuing confiscated food from the Arizona-Mexico border patrol and a Brooklyn bucket lady collects food scraps kitchen by kitchen.

Featuring: Robert Reed, Project Manager at Recology - San Francisco, CA Yolanda Soto, President & CEO Borderlands Food Bank - Nogales, AZ Vandra Thorburn, Founder & President of Vokashi - Brooklyn, NY Charles Phan, Owner & Executive Chef at Slanted Door - San Francisco, CA Nigel Walker, Owner & Operator at Eatwell Farm - Dixon, CA Suspicious Package, Musicians - Brooklyn, NY

Episode 11: Food on the Brain Food Forward TV explores the disconnect between the belly and the brain and America’s national eating disorder. A journey to Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab unveils the psychology of consumer habits and introduces viewers to simple tips and tricks for a healthier diet. We also take a journey up to the Hudson River Valley on a transformative journey of one Navy veteran who is reinventing himself through the culinary arts at the nation’s top cooking school, the Culinary Institute of America.

Featuring: Brian Wansink, Director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, Author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think - Ithaca, NY Greg Steinhauer, Chef at Culinary Institute of America in NY - Hyde Park, NY

Episode 12: Wild Food, I Think I Love You Once upon a time, wild food was all there was. If you didn’t pick it, catch it, or kill it, you didn’t eat. That’s all changed of course, but what have we lost in our move from the wilderness that once supported us? And what could we gain by rediscovering foraging as a source of food? Food Forward TV heads deep into America’s backwoods joining mushroom pickers on Washington’s Olympic peninsula, charitable deer hunters in North Carolina and roadkill-eating hillbillies in West Virginia.

Featuring: Langdon Cook, Forager & Author of The Mushroom Hunters: On The Trail Of An Underground America - Southern Olympic Peninsula, WA Doug Carnell, Mushroom Forager - Southern Olympic Peninsula, WA Eldrick Davis, Pastor, Bailey Area Ministries - Bailey, NC Andy Bickar, Chef/Owner at Rediviva - Aberdeen, WA Herman Sampson, Professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics Department, North Carolina State University - Raleigh, NC Darlene Red, Hunters for the Hungry Hunter - Bailey, NC Chuck Green, Hunters for the Hungry Hunter - Bailey, NC Travis Aycock, Farmer - Lucama, NC The Bing Brothers Band, Musicians - Marlington, WV

Episode 13: The U.S. of Agriculture From the Founding Farmers to the modern Farm Bill, what has 200 years of progress brought to the table? More food at lower prices for sure, but also food fights over the environment, hunger, nutrition, and waste. In this final episode of Food Forward TV, politicians, policy watchdogs and food experts take us on a personal tour through the history of food and agriculture in America. There’s an entry point for everyone in the conversation about how we feed ourselves.

Featuring: Dan Imhoff, Co-founder and Director of Watershed Media and Author of Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill - Healdsburg, CA Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture - Washington, DC Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food and Water Watch - Washington, DC Katherine Alvarado-Rivera, SNAP Beneficiary - Southwest Detroit, MI Rachel Bair, Project Manager for Double Up Food Bucks - Detroit, MI Money Wellz, Musician - Detroit, MI

Team: Food Forward TV is written, produced and directed by a veteran team of journalists, cinematographers and storytellers:

Greg Roden has worked in television and print journalism as a photographer, writer, director and producer for more than 20 years. Winner of an International Television & Video Association (ITVA) 'Best Documentary' award for his coverage of the Sandinista elections in Nicaragua, he has traveled near and far, searching for compelling people and their stories.

Stett Holbrook is an award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience writing about food. His work has appeared in the L.A. Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Saveur, Eating Well, and other publications. He is currently the editor of The Bohemian, an alternative weekly in Sonoma, CA.

Brian Greene has spent most of his life journeying both personally and professionally. Never comfortable staying in one place too long, he has worked on a wide variety of independent and cable media projects for clients such as the Discovery Channel and the Food Network.

Susan Haymer is an award winning writer-director-producer, who has contributed to the success of many top rated TV series that define the celebrity/lifestyle/travel/health television genre for networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, A&E, Animal Planet, Court TV, Discovery, E! Nick, OLN, Planet Green, Style, TLC and USA. A member of the Directors Guild of America.

David Linstrom is an Emmy Award-winning cinematographer and director with more than 20 years of experience making television for PBS, National Geographic, Discovery and more. He is an omnivore who enjoys dining with the wonderful people he meets throughout the world and he never backs down from a bizarre food eating challenge.

Greg Roden - Producer/Director Interview:

Why Food Forward TV and why now?

Everybody knows that our food system is broken and that factory farming is bad for us. That’s been well documented by people like Michael Pollan and films like Food, Inc. It’s also depressing: How much bad news can people take? We wanted to pick up where Food, Inc. left off and showcase some solutions to the problems around the country. There are a lot of positive things going on right now and we wanted to capture that.

What qualities make a person a food hero in your mind?

Someone who goes beyond sustainable, local, organic — all these things we’ve heard about and get kicked around all the time — and is doing something cutting edge to help their community, like growing a low-impact food source – super worms, or piloting a desalination plant to combat severe drought. Our series has a bit of a punk rock aesthetic, these folks are a bit subversive, that’s why we call them food rebels. They’re not waiting for foundation grants or government assistance, they’re part of the D.I.Y. generation, they’re just doing it on their own and making change.

What’s your personal connection to food?

I’m a flexitarian, leaning towards the vegetarian end of the spectrum, who struggles every day to make healthy eating choices. Working on this project has helped get me back on track food wise. I grew up in Southern California on a ranch, my family grew citrus, it was a hobby farm. My maternal grandparents raised cattle in Southern Oregon. So farming is in my blood. But where my food came from was never that important to me. It is now.

What do you hope viewers take away from Food Forward TV?

As documentary filmmakers we want to educate, entertain, and inspire, of course. But we want to do more than that. We hope the series motivates people to take action on issues such as the Farm Bill, school lunch, and GMO-foods.

Sponsors:

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Social Media Kit: Get the conversation started about Food Forward TV with your followers! Follow us, like us, and share what we share to get things percolating. Starting Labor Day Weekend, 2014, Food Forward TV will be free to watch on the PBS Website and available nationwide on PBS stations (check your local listings for details).

This kit can be used as an addendum or template for your online and social media promotion efforts surrounding the airing of the Food Forward TV.

What to Share: Helpful Links (to always share): Website Series Trailer

Where to Share It:

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Example Posts: #FoodForwardTV is serving up the best people and ideas that are transforming our #FoodSystem in America. Watch! [Episode Details]

Looking for a fresh take on America’s food system? Try #FoodForwardTV [trailer]

#FoodRebels across the nation are transforming the way we eat. WATCH #FoodForwardTV [trailer]

Hashtags to Use:

#FoodForwardTV #Quest4Water #FoodWaste #FoodRebel #GoFish #WildFood #FarmBill #MeatOfTheMatter #Food4All #USofAg #ModernMilk #FoodPsych #SaveOurSoil #SchoolLunch #Agritopia #SeedsOfChange #FutureFood #LetsEatNow

Newsletter Blurbs: Do you send out a regular subscriber-based e-newsletter? If so, we recommend inserting this quick blurb on Food Forward TV into your newsletter:

Food Forward TV goes beyond organic to reveal the compelling stories and inspired solutions created by food heroes across America. Told with humor and journalistic rigor, Food Forward TV profiles food rebels who are striving to create a more just, sustainable and delicious alternative to what we eat and how we produce it.

Food Forward TV provides innovative, thought-provoking content via integrated multimedia including public television, public radio and interactive web content at www.foodforwardtv.com

Check your local listings for airdates and times for FoodForwardTV on PBS starting Labor Day Weekend, or check the PBS website to watch episodes anytime for free.

Blog Posts: The Food Forward TV blog will be featuring Food Rebels and up-to-date stories on the topics covered in the show. Please feel free to share the stories from our blog. Here’s a helpful description to add:

Starting Labor Day Weekend 2014, PBS online and local PBS stations will premiere the new television series Food Forward TV — exploring alternatives to our industrial food system through the lives and passions of a vanguard of innovators — educators, scientists, fishermen, farmers, and chefs across America who are fundamentally changing the way we eat.