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Life & Times Transcript
07/07/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Farming has never been easy, but some local farmers are facing challenges their fathers never imagined. Phil McGrath>> You can get your fruit from Chili, Australia, Spain, Mexico or you can actually try to be conscious of the California seasons. Everybody thinks this is the endless summer. Well, it's not. Val>> And then, tired of action-packed summer blockbusters? Our FilmWeek critics give us a sampling of what else is new in theaters this week. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> They've been disappearing for decades, small family farms forced out of business by corporate enterprises. Agriculture is being replaced by agribusiness. So what can the remaining small family farms do to survive? As Toni Guinyard tells us, some farmers are getting creative using untraditional techniques to get their crops to their customers. Toni Guinyard>> An occasional visit to a roadside produce stand is often the closest many Southern California residents come to getting a taste of what farm life is all about. The visits give customers a chance to buy fresh produce and give farmers a chance to get to know their customers, but many family farmers say it's not enough. They've found they must alter the way they do business to stay in business. Craig Underwood>> We started doing direct marketing as a consequence to the fact that we were having trouble competing with larger and larger producers in the produce business. Toni Guinyard>> For many years, the Underwood Farm produce stand has helped do what Craig Underwood wanted so much to accomplish: connect people with their food. It's a classic example of direct marketing. Judy Blue>> Direct marketing is selling directly from the farm to the consumers so they can get the best, the high seller. Toni Guinyard>> But the business depends on the volume sold. Family farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to lure people from the city to the produce stand, so they're being forced to become more and more creative in finding ways to make ends meet. Craig Underwood>> As we got into direct marketing produce, we soon discovered that people weren't going to be attracted out here just to buy fruits and vegetables because the supermarkets are doing an increasingly better job of marketing and quality. So we needed other reasons to get people out here. Toni Guinyard>> Underwood is a fourth generation farmer. He's also a man willing to take a risk. He began using less than traditional methods to expand his farm operation, making it a destination for more than just purchasing produce. He has transformed a trip to the farm into a farm experience complete with the Farm Animal Center. It is the fastest growing segment of business at Underwood Farm, making the farm a rural oasis just a stone's throw away from city life. Behind you, you have two wagons of kids. Craig Underwood>> Yeah. Toni Guinyard>> Is that part of your entertainment? Craig Underwood>> Part of the entertainment-education. You know, we bundle the two together because we feel that, in order to educate, you have to entertain. Toni Guinyard>> It's called agritourism, farms becoming tourist attractions by providing a mix of entertainment while educating visitors about farming and of the farmers' role in the community. Judy Blue>> Agritourism is sort of a new buzz word here. Underwood is doing a wonderful job where they have schools come out on field trips and they have animal farms and they have You-Pick. Craig Underwood>> Well, right now it's up to a third of our overall business, so that's significant. It's a less risky venture than conventional growing which potentially you can lose thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in conventional farming. Phil McGrath>> Farming is great, and this is the best farm ground in the world. Toni Guinyard>> Miles away, another farm, a different approach to business. The three hundred acre McGrath Family Farm sits within view of the 101 Freeway in Camarillo. The family has been farming in the area since 1871, each generation responding to changes in the industry. Phil McGrath>> Being fifty-five miles north of downtown Los Angeles and surrounded by development, we are now farming just thirty acres of the three hundred acres. But everything I grow is for direct marketing. Toni Guinyard>> Direct marketing. It's a method of sales shared by McGrath and Underwood. Both men have taken very different approaches to boosting business, but farmers markets have been a mainstay for small family farmers for more than twenty years. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> But the popularity of farmers markets comes with a cost. Phil McGrath>> Competition at the farmers markets is very high right now. We definitely were learning to crawl in the 1980's, stood up and started running in the 1990's, and now there's a farmers market on every block, on every corner, every day of the week, anytime, anywhere. Toni Guinyard>> Farmers markets only represent a fraction of McGrath's overall business. Restaurants are a significantly larger source of his income. McGrath Family Farms sells organic produce to more than forty area restaurants. Phil McGrath>> When I walk into a restaurant and see my name, McGrath Family Farms, on the menu highlighting lettuce or strawberries, it's really cool. Toni Guinyard>> The Rodriguez brothers aren't as fortunate. A decade ago, Tony and Reynaldo Rodriguez purchased an eighteen acre strawberry farm in Oxnard. It's the only crop they grow. Tony Rodriguez>> We have to sell a lot of berries in the farmers market here and there. Ten years ago, it was real nice and enjoyable. We don't have a lot of competition. But right now, we have like thousands and thousands of acres like in Ventura County and you got to fight with the big companies and it's pretty hard to survive. Real tough. Toni Guinyard>> Now forty percent of their income is made by selling strawberries at farmers markets. Reynaldo Rodriguez>> Before, it used to be like only two or three strawberry growers selling theirs in farmers markets. Now it's like seven to ten different booths with the same product. Tony Rodriguez>> We make less a month and we can't afford it. Toni Guinyard>> But yet you continue doing it. Tony Rodriguez>> Right now, probably it's our last year. Judy Blue>> As soon as the farmer has no more business, they'll be selling their land to developers and then this will all be gone. This way of life will be gone. Toni Guinyard>> Judy Blue is on a mission to make sure that does not happen. As General Manager of the Gold Coast Growers Collaborative, Blue is the marketer, public relations representation and spokesperson for more than thirty Southern California family farms. Judy Blue>> All around us is housing developments and, without the small family farmer, one, we have urban sprawl. Toni Guinyard>> Blue is out to change the way the public thinks about farmers and buying produce. She's an advocate of direct marketing and a supporter of new ways to deal with the old issue of farm survival. Judy Blue>> We need to look at other avenues. One is agritourism which is a wonderful one, and I would love to see expanded here in Ventura County into other farms. The other is into schools and institutions. Toni Guinyard>> The Gold Coast Growers Collaborative is helping forge a relationship between local family farmers and schools. Jim Churchill>> We wanted to build a local direct market for local growers, so it seemed like all of those things would work together if we could sell to school lunch programs. Judy Blue>> It's really important for people to realize that, if they buy local produce, they'll be able to get the best tasting fruit and vegetables for their money and they'll be able to preserve the land. Phil McGrath>> You can get your fruit from Chile, Australia, Spain, Mexico, or you can actually try and be conscious of the California seasons. Everybody thinks this is the endless summer. Well, it's not. Tony Rodriguez>> If the government brings vegetables from Mexico, from all over, they don't support us to keep growing. Toni Guinyard>> And that's the goal: to keep going and stay in business. They may define success differently, but these family farmers have all embraced one slogan. Phil McGrath>> Buy fresh, buy local. Toni Guinyard>> Convincing the public to forego convenience and go the extra mile for fresh produce is the challenge. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Toni Guinyard>> If you believe there's absolutely nothing you can do to protect yourself during an unconventional terrorist attack, the researchers at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica have some information for you. It comes in the form of this quick reference guide. We spoke with emergency response expert, Dr. Tom LaTourrette, who helped us go through this guide step by step. What is an unconventional terrorist attack? Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> That means an attack with unconventional weapons. So-called unconventional weapons include chemical weapons, biological weapons, nuclear weapons or radiological weapons. We know that the threat is real. We've seen these things happen in the past, so the threat is out there. Toni Guinyard>> There are some misconceptions, though, that we all have about what we can do. Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> People are concerned about terrorism and they want guidance. We don't know what the real probability of different types of attacks are. However, the record shows that groups have these kinds of weapons and are trying to use them. So given that the threat is real, we're trying to provide real tools for people to respond to these real threats. Toni Guinyard>> Give me an example. What can we do? Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> Well, for example, in a chemical attack, your over-arching goal should be to find clean air quickly. So if the attack is outdoors, your top priority should be to get indoors. By getting indoors and closing the doors and windows, that will provide you something like ninety percent of the protection you can get. Then once you're indoors, you should, to the extent possible, move upstairs and move toward an interior room. This can provide you a tremendous amount of protection. Toni Guinyard>> This is information that seems too simplistic in a way. Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> Well, in some senses, some of it is intuitive. In other cases, some of it might be counter-intuitive. There are some misconceptions about how someone might respond to a terrorist attack. First and foremost, there is a common misconception that there's nothing anyone can do. Our research has found that, in fact, there are things individuals can do in that critical integral between the time that an attack occurs and the time that emergency responders are able to arrive on the scene and provide assistance. People commonly think that professional emergency responders are going to help and they will, but not right away. They'll be the first to tell you that. It's going to take time for the emergency responders to arrive on the scene and provide help and some of these events unfold so quickly that the actions that an individual takes before the professional emergency responders are able to help could make the difference in their survival. Toni Guinyard>> In your fingertip guide, one of the things it said was to have the duct tape and the plastic sheeting and we saw the response of the public when that was first mentioned after 9/11 and people were scared. Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> Right. Well, it's in there because it can help. We certainly don't want to over-emphasize the importance of duct tape and plastic sheeting. In all reality, that's a last step. You really want to focus on getting indoors, closing the windows and doors and moving upstairs. That will get you most of the way there. If you have the opportunity and the supplies, you know, taping and sealing a room can provide additional protection, but that's really the last step. There is an old credence that says that in the middle of a disaster is not the time to pull out the instructions and start learning what to do. You need to read this ahead of time and become familiar with the actions. Then throw it in your bag or wherever you might be so that you might be able to look at it again. But certainly in the event of an attack, that's not the time to get it out and start reading it. We've got it on our website, www.rand.org. You can download it there. I can show it to you. It comes out on an eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper. You simply fold it up and then you've got your quick guide with the cover. All the strategies right here at your fingertips. It doesn't take long to review it, become familiar with it, and then just stick it in your bag, your office and look at it occasionally and you're set. It also is available in a format to load onto your PDA. This is a simple program that just reproduces the contents of the guide onto a PDA. It's a novel form of communication, but more and more people are using PDAs for more and more things, so we thought we'd make it available in that format as well. Toni Guinyard>> What would you say to those people who are working in office buildings or living in high-rises? Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> Well, again, it will depend on what's going on. If there is a chemical attack that's in the building, as evidenced by the fact that people around you are displaying symptoms, your top priority should be to get clean air. Open a window or go out on a balcony. If that's not possible, you need to get out of the building or otherwise follow the building's emergency response plan. In a radiological attack or any kind of attack outdoors, you want to stay in the building. If your building is not damaged and not threatened, you want to stay inside because, again, staying inside provides you a tremendous amount of shelter. Going back to the chemical attack that's outdoors, one initial response might be to just simply run away. Stay outside and run away as fast as you can. While that could work for some lucky folks, you don't really know which way to run. You don't know how far you need to run. You may not be able to run. There may be buildings or other things in your way. So your odds are not necessarily that good. Whereas, if you run immediately inside the closest shelter, you'd get a lot of protection that way. A couple of key points to keep in mind is that the critical steps in terms of preparation are understanding what to do. There isn't a lot of hardware out there that's going to help you. What you need to do is understand the actions you need to take. In a chemical attack, find clean air. In a biological attack, you need to get medical assistance and avoid further exposure to the agent. In a radiological attack, you'd want to avoid at all costs inhaling dust that might be radioactive. Then there's more specific steps for each of those, but it depends a little bit upon what is going on. There isn't a universal response for terrorism as a whole. Toni Guinyard>> How do you dispense this information without scaring us? Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> Well, certainly that's a challenge and a concern. But what we've found is that we conducted focus groups as part of this analysis and we found that people are concerned about the threat of terrorism and they want to know what to do. They want this information. So while there is a risk of people becoming scared by receiving more specific information, I think at the same time it provides a sense of confidence and security that there is something they can do. Toni Guinyard>> Bottom line, you want us to understand, you want us to arm ourselves with knowledge, but you don't want us to be afraid and panic, correct? Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> That's right. Information is really the key resource here. As I said, there's not a lot of hardware that's going to help you. What you really want to do is understand what you need to do and perhaps think more explicitly about what you would do in the situation you find yourself in in your daily life at home, at work, on your way to work. Think through the steps in the guide. That's the top thing you can do to help yourself. Toni Guinyard>> Dr. Tom LaTourrette, I feel that I am armed and ready for just about anything. Thank you so much for spending a little time with Life and Times. Dr. Tom LaTourrette>> You're very welcome. Thanks for having me. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week is from the director of the Art House favorite of last year, "The Motorcycle Diaries". This time out, Walter Salles turns his attention to the horror film, "Dark Water", starring Jennifer Connelly. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Andy Klein of City Beat and Valley Beat, and Jean Oppenheimer of New Times. Andy, what did you think of "Dark Water"? Andy Klein>> "Dark Water" is the latest result of Hollywood's fascination with remaking Asian horror films like "The Ring" and "The Grudge". This one is based on the film by Hideo Nakata who also directed "The Ring" and the same novelist wrote the source material for both. Jennifer Connelly plays a young mother who's in the midst of a really acrimonious divorce and wants to keep custody of her child. Her husband's got lawyers working against her, but she moves into this apartment building where strange things start to happen, most of them involving water, ugly, dark, icky water that keeps dripping down from the apartment above which is supposed to be unoccupied. You get a lot of these effects like we had in "The Ring" that is sort of creepy stuff that's kind of scary at the time, but the plot doesn't really build and it's hard to work up a head of steam over this. It's just scary from scene to scene, but not overall. Larry Mantle>> Jean? Jean Oppenheimer>> Well, I think the plot and this story is the real problem because it's almost as though what the story is about isn't set up. The mystery isn't set up. I mean, yes, we're all wondering where is the water coming from, but actually the last ten minutes of the film, to me, sort of tell you what the film is supposed to be about. But I don't think it had been set up in a way that you knew that going along, so you're sort of going, okay, now what's the mystery supposed to be here? So I thought that was a problem. I did think it was very atmospheric and very creepy and scary, but not satisfying in the end. Larry Mantle>> Next up is the film, "Cronicas", starring John Leguizamo as a tabloid television journalist hot on the heels of a serial killer in Central America. [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Jean Oppenheimer, what did you think of "Cronicas"? Jean Oppenheimer>> I think you need a strong constitution to watch this film. I thought it was extremely well done, very engrossing, with very good performances, but the subject matter itself is very grizzly, not gory. You don't see a lot, you know, of this. It's about a tabloid journalist, John Leguizamo, who works in Miami, but the whole thing takes place in Ecuador where he and his crew have gone to follow a serial killer that has been targeting children and he very sadistically tortures and rapes and kills them. You don't see any of this on screen. He gets an inkling of who the person is and, rather than go to the police, he thinks that he can get information out of the guy and in the end, you know, turn him in and also have this great story that will make his career, so there's a lot about journalistic ethics here. Very difficult to watch because, I think, it's so well done. Larry Mantle>> Andy Klein? Andy Klein>> Yeah, Jean, I think you've got too weak a stomach here. I didn't find it that grizzly, even though the subject matter is incredibly distasteful. But it really not only happens off the screen, it doesn't even generally happen within the time frame of the film itself. I thought that Leguizamo was terrific. He gave the best dramatic performance I've seen him give. Much better than his work in the recent "Land of the Dead". The thematic stuff is interesting. The film is well done, but there was something over-familiar about the issues involved. I mean, even if you think of that Judith Miller and all that current stuff. Frankly, there was just -- I just thought we had hashed over all this stuff before. The guy behaves badly. I don't there's much of a question there. Larry Mantle>> Paraplegic Rugby is the focus of our next film, a documentary on this highly violent sport, known as "Murderball". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Jean, what did you think of the documentary, "Murderball"? Jean Oppenheimer>> I thought it was really engrossing. I mean, it's about this very violent kind of wheelchair Rugby and it really gets a lot into the personalities of the individuals and it focuses on a couple of different people. One of them is the U.S. team spokesman named Mark Zupan. The other main person that they talk about is another American named Joe Soares, but he actually coaches the Canadian team. There's a lot of hostility between the Canadian and the U.S. teams here. But what I liked about the film is that it doesn't just center or focus on sort of the Rugby playing. It goes off and you find out about what happened to these guys. You find out how they've come through it all. It's very interesting. Joe Soares has a son who's not the least bit athletic. He's very intellectual and Joe can't relate to him at all, so a lot of this is about sort of the relationship there. So there's much more to it than just the sports angle. Larry Mantle>> And finally this week, a new movie from Swedish writer-director, Ingmar Bergman. In his eighties, he revisits characters from his film of thirty years ago, "Scenes of a Marriage", in "Saraband". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> "Saraband", Andy Klein? Andy Klein>> This is Ingmar Bergman's first film to show up in American theaters in over twenty years and he has been working, though, mostly in theater and for television. Indeed, this was I believe done as a television production, but it does deserve the theatrical release it's getting. He revisits the characters that were at the center of his 1973 "Scenes of a Marriage" played by Erland Josephson and Liv Ullmann. They were a married couple who, from the title, you know that they're going to go bad. Anyway, these were bad scenes of a marriage. Here it is, thirty-some years later, she suddenly gets the impulse to look up her ex-husband and visit him, who she hasn't seen in ages. She finds him living in isolation, but very near his son with whom he has the world's worst relationship -- they hate each other -- and his son's wonderful daughter. You see these people, you know, just hammering away at each other. Very insightfully, beautifully shot on digital video, very talky. Larry Mantle>> Well, thanks for joining us for another edition of FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Jean Oppenheimer of New Times and Andy Klein of City Beat and Valley Beat. We look forward to your joining us again next week at this time for another edition of FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val>> You can hear the hour-long version of FilmWeek on Friday mornings on KPCC public radio 89.3. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> Next time on Life and Times -- These young eagles are ready to fly free over the Channel Islands, but are the islands ready for them? >> The challenge is whether or not the environment is clean enough at this point to support the Bald Eagles where they can reproduce and bring off healthy eggs and healthy young and we're just not sure yet if that's the case. Val>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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