Foodie Film Series: GMO OMG
Grand Rapids Downtown Market
Tuesday, March 24, 2015 from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM Grand Rapids, MI

The Downtown Market invited OKT’s executive director, Lisa Oliver-King to sit on a panel discussing the film, GMO OMG. Others on the panel include Rachelle Bostwick,Earth Keeper Farm;Dr. David Dornbos,Professor of Biology at Calvin College; Hannah Fernando,GVSU Sustainable Food System Major and local agripreneur activist;Emily Helmus, Bloom Ferments and Oscar Moreno, Serafina’s Bar & Grill.

According to the film’s promotional materials, GMO OMG’s “director and concerned father Jeremy Seifert is in search of answers. How do GMOs affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice? And perhaps the ultimate question, which Seifert tests himself: is it even possible to reject the food system currently in place, or have we lost something we can’t gain back? These and other questions take Seifert on a journey from his family’s table to Haiti, Paris, Norway, and the lobby of agra-giant Monsanto, from which he is unceremoniously ejected. Along the way we gain insight into a question that is of growing concern to citizens the world over: what’s on your plate?” 

You can see the trailer here.

OKT agreed to join the panel because getting the message out that eliminating GMOs from our diet is one way we can ensure better health and fairer food. You can read more about our stance on GMOs in our GMOs & Food Justice handout. .

While OKT applauds the Downtown Market for embarking on a series that gets the word out about GMOs and other controversial food topics, it is hoped that the market will also take steps to not only become more accessible and inviting to income challenged residents living in its neighborhood–as these same neighbors have little or no access to healthy, affordable foods–but also invite these same neighbors to take part in deciding the future course of the market.