By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Deborah Koons Garcia, the widow of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, is coming to Lewiston Saturday to present a movie about changes in food and the potential impact on human health.

Garcia will present “The Future of Food,” a 90-minute film she wrote and directed, and will take questions from the audience after the 2 p.m. screening upstairs at the Lewiston Public Library.

Her presentation is one of many offered during this weekend’s three-day political and social forum at the Bates Mill Enterprise Complex and the library’s Marsden Hartley Cultural Arts Center.

Garcia’s movie explores food issues such as genetic alteration, corporate farming and pesticides. Seeds and plants are being genetically altered by large corporate farms, she said in a phone interview this week.

“Unlike the European Union, it’s not labeled, so Americans don’t have a choice,” she said.

According to Garcia, DNA in seeds and plants is mutated and crossed. “Once it’s released, it’s out there.” Genetically engineered seeds have not been properly tested, Garcia said, adding that no one knows what kind of impact that food will have on human health in the future.

And, corporate farms use far more insecticide than needed to avoid having to weed, she said.

In addition to consumer health concerns, there’s the issue of social justice, Garcia said. “Do we want a multinational seed supply controlling our food supply?” she asked. “Corporate America wants us to shut up and eat. They don’t want us to know what’s in the food.”

People need to think about what they’re eating, and the consequences of food-buying habits at local farms.

For example, some apple juice sold in Maine is imported from China. “Do you want your food dollars staying in your community or going off to corporations?” Garcia said.

The film has been shown across the country, including numerous showings last year in Maine: Bar Harbor, Waterville, Deer Island, Machias, Cape Elizabeth and Portland.

Viewers are often shocked by what they learn from the film, Garcia said. “People literally go through their cupboards and read labels. They become more concerned.”

The film also offers alternatives, such as buying from farmers’ market and organic farms. Both are growing trends, especially in Maine, Garcia said.

It used to be that all Mainers had gardens and grew their own tomatoes and cucumbers. That’s changed, but gardens are coming back in Maine, she said.

People can ask their stores to stock locally grown food. “Ask Shaw’s, Do you have apple juice from Maine?'” Garcia said. “Our food system is changeable. It’s based on opinions.”

Maine also has a very active organic farming community, Garcia said.

She was married to Jerry Garcia for a few years before he died in 1995, she said. He shared some of her concern for food. At times he was careful about what he ate, but when he was on the road he’d eat cheeseburgers. “I wish he’d taken more care,” she said.

Deborah Garcia receives royalties from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for the flavor “Cherry Garcia,” named for her late husband. The royalties helped pay for her movie, she said.

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