On Saturday I saw my pet film of the class so far ( excepting my belovedPOTC ) , which was a full - length documentary about edible asparagus .
Stop express joy .
Really , Asparagus ! ( a Stalk - umentary ) , which just won the " best of " honor at theRural Route Film Festival , is a fascinating exploration of ( a ) what happens when U.S. drug insurance policy goes haywire , ( b ) factory farming and globalisation ’s burden on rural America , and ( c ) multitude who raise harvest and the bizarre subcultures that sprout ( see what I just did ? ) up around them . The pic follows a group of sodbuster in Oceana County , Michigan , as they present their annualNational Asparagus Festival(complete with a tiara - wearing queen ) and struggle to contend with Peruvian cultivator , who are effectively subsidize by a War on Drugs law that lift duty a few years ago . There are draw of good factlets in it too ( did you know edible asparagus is a bush ? ) . Google Video has somefootage , but it really does n’t do the film justice . To get the full essence , you had to be at the showing , which have free PBR and an ironic - cowboy - lid - have on - hipster but was saved from itself by the comportment of the said Mrs. Asparagus and one of the farmers who repeat as a insurance policy wonk . ( The film producer , one of whom produce up on an asparagus farm , were also there.)Asparagus!will be traveling to take festivals around the commonwealth in the next class or so – do n’t miss it if it ’s near you . The filmmakers will also have a in full functioningwebsitein about a week .
The image , by the way , is another example of edible asparagus meeting art : it ’s François Bonvin ’s " Still Life with Asparagus , " 1857 .
