Valerie Cassity
Special to the Sun

The Living Green Festival Committee held an environmental film festival Jan. 10, at the Reel Cinema in Wofford Heights. This was the group’s second event to promote the 2010 Living Green in the KRV Festival, scheduled for March 17 – 21.

Local residents, as well as folks from Bakersfield and Palmdale, came to learn about current environmental problems and possible solutions. Jenny Hanley, co-chair of Living Green 2010, was excited by the large turnout. “We believe if we build it, they will come,” said Hanley.

The festival began with “Mama Earth,” a short, often humorous look at what humans have done to the planet with a dressing down from Mother Earth herself.

According to the film, the earth’s resources have been valued at $33 trillion. The prices charged for consumer goods are not on par with the full cost of resource destruction. The solution: Think before spending money.

The message was to buy from companies that work to reduce their carbon footprint while being fair to their employees. New Belguim Brewing Company and Kettle Chips were given as two such examples.

“Mother Earth is a good metaphor because we take our mothers for granted, too,” said one scientist in the film.

“Energy Crossroads” a short about peak oil production becoming a problem within 20 years, followed.

The film reviewed innovations that could help fuel the nation without the heavy ecological footprint that fossil fuels create.

According to the filmmakers, the U.S. has five percent of the world’s population, yet consumes 25 percent of its resources.

Solutions offered in “Energy Crossroads” included switching to solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass power. On the individual level, personal choices such as carpooling, turning off lights, and purchasing more fuel-efficient cars make a difference. For audience consideration: “Human slavery fueled the world economy in the 19th Century, fossil fuel and environmental destruction fueled the 20th Century. What will fuel the 21st Century?”

A third, very short documentary titled “The Price of a Cup of Coffee” followed a brief intermission, and showed that most coffee purchased in the U.S. is served in paper take-out cups made from virgin trees, which then end up in the landfills.

The filmmakers asked people to sort their garbage, recycle, and bring their own re-usable cups to their local coffee houses.

The main attraction movie, “The Real Dirt on Farmer John,” took the audience on a journey through the life of John Peterson, a flamboyant, cross-dressing farmer from birth who lost his father to diabetes as a teen and was forced into the position as head of the family farm.

Peterson went to college in the 1960s and met some fellow liberal students, and for 10 years ran Midwest Coast, a hippie commune farm that horrified the neighbors.

In the early 80s, when farmers were losing everything, Peterson was forced to sell more than half of his land because he was $500,000 in debt.

After doing some soul-searching in Mexico, Peterson returned home determined to save the family farm, and through some trial and error, began farming organically.

Angelic Organics became a community-sponsored agriculture site, where interns and urbanites came to help with the planting, weeding, and harvesting.

After the film, Rebecca Rosenburg, community host of local CSA Abundant Harvest Organics, gave a brief presentation about the program and encouraged people to take advantage of the opportunity to try it and support local organic family farms.

The final film was “Acid Test,” produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council and narrated by actress Sigorney Weaver. The film outlined the problem of ocean acidification due to carbon dioxide emissions, which is the less-known twin issue to global warming.

The filmmakers warned that the world’s coral reef ecosystems could be lost in the next 20-30 years, if work to reduce CO2 emissions did not begin immediately..

“Not everyone can afford to put solar on their homes tomorrow, but everyone can look at the way they vote with their money,” said film festival committee member Katie Olivares after the film.

The Living Green Festival is an endeavor of Kern River Valley Revitalization. Living Green currently has 17 committees to coordinate the festival events. These include a Green Expo, Vintage Fashion show and High Tea, workshops, tours, a green film festival for adults and another for children, a music reception, a recycled art show, and more.

In the meantime, the committee has one more film festival planned for Feb. 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Reel Cinema. For more information, visit their website at www.LivingGreenKRV.org.