April 23 – "The Jungle" Premieres in Fairfield

A new documentary by Right to Harm Director Matt Wechsler

Wednesday, April 23 at 7:00 pm

Fairfield Public Library

FREE

 

The Jungle Is Sponsored by

Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc.

Southeast Iowa Sierra Club

Filmmaker Matt Wechsler’s new documentary, The Jungle, is a modern-day take on Upton Sinclair’s famous 1906 expose that shocked the nation. Fairfield is one of three locations in Iowa premiering the film as a special Earth Week event. 

Unraveling centuries of greed and exploitation in America’s meat industry, the film calls into question the profiteering of ecosystems and reveals how indigenous knowledge may hold the key to creating an equitable food system for both people and the planet.

"Agriculture is more consolidated than ever with just a handful of massive conglomerates calling the shots,” says Wechsler. “The downstream effects are crippling rural communities, depleting natural resources, destroying ecosystems, poisoning consumers, and exacerbating climate change."

Yet The Jungle reveals how the real indigenous ancestral roots of regenerative agriculture may hold the key to creating an equitable food system for people and the planet.

The Jungle spotlights the work of:

• Former New York Times columnist Mark Bittman

• Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, a regenerative poultry farmer using indigenous practices at his Minnesota farm. (Haslett-Marroquin was the keynote speaker at JFAN’s 2018 Annual Meeting)

• Paige and Derrick Jackson who produce ethically raised pork, chicken and beef in North Carolina

• Former independent Iowa hog farmer Chuck Wirtz.

This is Wechsler’s third film on food and agriculture. The first two – Sustainable and Right to Harm – as well as The Jungle were all partially filmed in Iowa.