TORONTO — A new documentary highlighting the journey between farm and plate debuted last week in Toronto, just as the country was celebrating Canada Food Day.
Called Before the Plate, the film, created by Dylan Sher and Sagi Kahane-Rapport, attempts to close the information gap between the urban consumer and farming in Canada. At a time when consumers are becoming more interested in how their food gets to them, there is increased need to provide more information.
Starring in the production is John Horne, executive chef of Canoe Restaurant, in downtown Toronto. “There’s so much material out there that you see on TV or in newspapers, you end up getting these false pictures about what’s going on. It’s so often one sided and people can become jaded because they don’t get a true perspective,” he says. As host of the documentary, Horne served as the connector between the consumer and the farmers. “I wasn’t trying to answer any questions or tell people what to do. The point of the movie, for me, was to be a connection between farmers and the viewers, to open up the lines of communication. I think farmers really want to show what they’re doing and to express what they do and why they do it. It’s about having a better understanding of what’s going on on farms,” said the chef.
As creators of the venture, Sher wanted to “bring the worlds of food, cooking and farming together in a way that has never been done before.” For director Kahane-Rapport, this project helped him “become much more aware of the realities of the farming and food industries.”
