Deconstructing Dinner is an original new ichannel television series that investigates and celebrates the origins and importance of our food.
The six-part documentary series premiered across Canada last fall and on April 24, Nelson resident and series writer and host Jon Steinman will be in Creston to share two of the six episodes on the big screen.
From 2006-2010, Steinman was the host of the weekly syndicated radio show, Deconstructing Dinner, which broadcast in Creston on CIDO 97.7 FM. Since stepping away from radio, Steinman has been hard at work alongside Toronto producer Declan O’Driscoll. The duo has spent the past two years developing this television series with the support of Stornoway Communications and the Canada Media Fund.
The series traces the path our food takes from farms and gardens to the kitchen table, and reveals the far-reaching impact that food production has on everything from local economies to human nutrition and flavour.
Each of the series’ six episodes focuses on one food: eggs, garlic, wheat, tomatoes, honey and pork. For the upcoming Creston screening, the highlight of the event will be the wheat episode, featuring Creston farmer Roy Lawrence of R&S Lawrence Farms.
In 2008, Lawrence helped found the Kootenay Grain CSA (community-supported agriculture), the first of its kind in Canada. For five years, Lawrence has been growing unique varieties of wheat, oats, lentils and peas for shareholders spread out throughout the West Kootenay. The CSA model offers an innovative opportunity for farmers and consumers to develop closer ties with one another and for farmers to receive a fair price for their product. With shareholders paying $1.25/pound for his grains (almost 10 times the price most farmers receive), the story of this unique Creston initiative was worthy of being told to a global audience.
Following the wheat episode, Steinman will also share the tomatoes episode and a few short videos produced exclusively for the web.
Music for the series is written by Juno- and Emmy-nominated musician and Slocan Valley resident Adham Shaikh. Animations for the series were developed by Nelson’s Alex Avelino.
Also at the event will be an opportunity to get a copy of the recently released book Uprisings: A Hands-On Guide to the Community Grain Revolution. Published by British Columbia’s New Society Publishers, the book was inspired by the Kootenay Grain CSA and Deconstructing Dinner. Chapter 1 of the book tells the grain CSA’s story. Some of the photos in the book were provided by the Creston Valley Advance’s Lorne Eckersley.
The April 24 event is being hosted by the Creston Valley Food Action Coalition and Deconstructing Dinner, and will take place at the Prince Charles Theatre at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is by donation. Series DVDs and Uprisings will be available for purchase at the event.
—DECONSTRUCTING DINNER