RI Selects: Where’s the Beef? A Documentary in Progress
American Meat, Work-in-Progress from Graham Meriwether on Vimeo.
Alejandro de Onís, who lives in Stockbridge, is passionate about film and food, which is why he is co-producing a documentary called American Meat (directed by Graham Meriwether) that examines industrial farming and organic options. One of the movie’s “stars” is the heroic Virginia farmer Joel Salatin, who famously refused to FedEx Michael Pollan one of his organic chickens and became a central character in Pollan’s best-seller The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “He is a very successful alternative farmer who grosses around $1 million a year,” says de Onís, 29, who ran a restaurant in Brooklyn before turning to making documentaries and moving to Stockbridge with his wife, Chase Simmering de Onís, who works at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. “Salatin is still considered a small-time operation and yet he now has a deal with Chipotle, the fast food chain.”
On Monday, November 23, de Onís (right) and Meriwhether are inviting the public for a free screening of a 30-minute work-in-progress rough cut of the documentary at the venerable Norfolk Library in Norfolk, CT, which will be followed by a Q&A with Meriwhether and de Onís . Afterwards, there will be a reception featuring local meats from The Meat Market of Jeremy & Emily Stanton. “I think this is a unique chance for people to view a movie in process and offer their input and insights,” says de Onís, who notes that another farmer featured in the film is Matt Gallagher of Snow Farm in Sandisfield, MA. “We really want to bring foodies, film people and farm activists together.”
American Meat Screening and Q&A
Monday, November 23 at 7 p.m.
Norfolk LIbrary
Norfolk, CT
