Just Eat It: Documentary Analysis

What do you think when you hear the words grocery store? Do you visualize perfect fruit and vegetable fillings the aisles? This is concept that many consumers have come to know. What many consumers do not realize is this is not ideal. These were my same thoughts before I started volunteering at a Farmers Market. These markets offer an array of benefits. As a consumer at a Farmers Market you are not only supporting local growers, but also reducing your environmental foot print, and diminishing the idea of perfect produce.

With the production of big business, such as Publix, Walmart, Sams, etc. many local and family farms cannot compete with such demand. Therefore, they struggle to survive. At the Farmers Market in which I volunteered there was a gentlemen there with his wife. They attended every Farmers Market that the school hosted. They also participated in other local farmers markets, however, they did not make as much sales as they did at other locations. This family survived off the profits from the selling

We as a world, waste so much food. “In 2010 133 billion pounds of edible food at the retail and consumer level went uneaten (1,249 calories per person per day) with about two-thirds of this waste attributed to consumers” (Qi & Roe, 2016). Much of the produce is essentially “thrown out” because grocery stores want to sell the perfect produce. If an apple has a bruise because it fell from the tree it cannot go into the grocery store. Instead it goes to a waste land, farmers market, or even donated. This idea was something I did not think about at all. However, after watching this film I was able to value a Farmers Market so much more. I do not wish to continue the idea of perfect produce, therefore I will ensure I get my future produce from local growers. This film truly changed my perception of food in