“COVID was the wake-up call…. Our broken food system was exposed.”

Story: a documentary about the food system in the United States, and how the 2020 pandemic brought the problems into focus. By talking with restauranteurs, farmers, and others in the food supply chain all over the US? We get a look at how our country thinks about food in general, and meet a handful of folks who are bucking the system in ways that bring more inclusive, healthier, sustainable ideas to the process of feeding us all.

Genre I’d put it in: Important Documentaries
Release Date: 2024
Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Original

Gotta say: As a University of Maryland, College Park grad, I fondly remember the school’s Food Co-op. A place to grab something healthy, delicious, inexpensive (very important for my undergrad wallet), all with a heaping helping of social consciousness. But as the years flew by, my knowledge of our modern day food system became hazy at best. Country seeks to rectify the gaps in my knowledge of food production, and to crib from a fast food joint? I’m loving it. From growers, ranchers, restauranteurs, servers, and more, this doc sheds light on what’s going on, grassroot changes, and more. It’s a re-up on the education I received back then, and one that everyone can benefit from.

Restaurant critic Ruth Reichl is our guide through this documentary, which focuses on the pandemic lockdown years of 2020 and 2021, though the information she gathers from the folks she interviews is exceedingly important right now. Poly-culture, regenerative farms, urban gardening, ranchers who switch from the confinement method of ranching to the old school roaming method, restauranteurs and service workers who struggle with providing good and healthy food… There’s so much information here it’s astounding.

Reichl’s whole heart and soul is on display throughout the doc. The idea of producers reclaiming the food industry from mega-corporations matters to her, and her easy to understand, no-nonsense approach is at once entertaining and powerful. Her fifty years of journalistic experience has her easily connecting with the interviewees in ways that feel as if we’re watching people become friends in real time. So we get information that’s unvarnished, uncensored (no cursing in this doc, just roll with me I’m being symbolic), and hits hard for anyone who has any kind of heart or soul. Not only will you care about how the food you eat gets to you, you’ll care about the people who get it to you. You’ll also get creeped out by the many ways agri-business horns in, warping the process so both producers and consumers ultimately suffer.

My quibble? Country is unfocused. There’s so much information here, brought together in an informal style, which makes things easy to follow, but the editorial style can be emotionally confusing. There’s a gut punch of how things are going, followed by a zoom chat between friends, followed by an innovative way to challenge the system. It’s messy, and while that’s the state of the world, it’s also not the best way to get these points across. That said, in a film that’s a touch over an hour and a half, Country managed to leave me with it’s messages intact, and even had me rooting for the success of the folks spotlighted. Director Laura Gabbert combines things in a way that helps viewers keep focus, and while the hopscotching is clumsy at times, with Reichl’s interviews, the film holds together.

Country could easily be an absolutely incredible streaming series, with each episode focusing on each of these stories and ideas. But as a brief look at how our country produces, thinks about, and consumes food, it’s an excellent eye-opener. I’ll be taking a more informed look at what I’m doing from now on. I may not always say no to tortilla chips or dark chocolate – who could even, y’all – but Country helped me see how food, and food production, matters.

#Protip: Ruth Reichl’s 1998 memoir “Tender at the Bone” is considered a classic in the genre. It’s absolutely outstanding, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.