MEDIA REVIEWS
Wasted!/FILM
The Story of Food Waste
Directed by Anna Chai & Nari Kye
When Chef Anthony Bourdain announces a
new film project, we would expect a sumptuous
international food tour. In Wasted! he delivers
just that, although not the tour we may expect
but one with world-changing implications.
Bourdain serves as producer and talking head in
the new, feature-length documentary Wasted!
The Story of Food Waste. In this enlightening
film, we see solutions to today’s rampant food
waste. According to Wasted!, delicious food
can be delivered resourcefully and with minimal
amounts of byproducts, “expired” products,
and leftovers ending up in landfills.
Chef Bourdain says, “I don’t like the idea
of being an advocate; I shrink from even the
appearance of a hashtag...” Yet as a chef, food
waste has always bothered him. When he was
a young culinary student, the teachers pounded
into him “use everything, waste nothing.”
Food waste figures in the US are stagger-
ing: 30-40% of the food we produce goes to
waste, 90% of that ends up in landfills. Food
is wasted along its entire cycle - from the fields,
to processing plants, to retailers, restaurants,
schools, and homes. Wasted! showcases the
practical solutions to reducing food waste at
every point in this cycle that are being imple-
mented by innovative leaders and companies.
Directors Anna Chai and Nari Kye have
both worked on Anthony Bourdain’s TV
shows (Mind of a Chef and Anthony Bourdain:
Parts Unknown). They frequently witnessed
chefs complaining about food waste, which
motivated the research for this film. Wasted!
ends with an action plan onscreen. Watch the
film and spread the word!
In cinemas October 13. For more informa-
tion, visit wastedfilm.com
Reviewed by Karen Henry, Associate Editor for The
Bliss Network.
YOGA The Secret of Life/bookby Francesco Mastalia
PowerHouse BooksPhotographer Francesco Mastalia’s YOGA
The Secret of Life is a fine art salute to our
beloved practice. The author’s gift for compo-
sition, fluency of the practice, and application
of a photographic technique (developed in
the mid-19th century) known as the wet plate
collodion process, translate to a visual treasure
which draws out yoga’s sacred nature in an
unrivaled shimmer.
“Why are we here? What is our ultimate
purpose on the planet?” So begins Mastalia’s
inquiry. He uses the following two hundred or
so pages to forage into the mystery. Masta-
lia creates revelations, fusing his masterfully
prepared portraits (captured over a time
period of 18 months, largely in and around
the Hudson Valley) of yogis, spanning genres
and generations, along with their personal
testimonies.
Dharma abounds with countless quotable
moments such as: “See the light, look for the
light, align with the light, then expand and tune
your lens to what is beautiful, what is blessed,
what is right now,” shared by Leah Cullis.
Personalities the yoga community reveres
fill page after page. Nikki Costello, David
Life, Faith Hunter, Suzanne Sterling, Snatam
Kaur... You want to sit with and linger with
each account.
While the narratives serve as a powerful
soundtrack, it’s the images that bewitch. The
forest serves as the “stage” for most of Masta-
lia’s captures. The collodion process the author
employed is beloved for its ability to to tran-
scend. It accents nuances, invokes mystery, and
proves to be a perfect tool for conveying the soul
of yoga. Learn more about Francesco Mastalia:
francescomastalia.com.Reviewed by Susan Currie is a Boston-based Photog-
rapher, Writer and Yoga Instructor whose new book
GRACENOTES will be published in November by
Shanti Arts: susancurriecreative.com.Real Love/bookby Sharon Salzberg
Flatiron BooksReal Love unveils the many layers of love.
Through the Buddhist lens of mindfulness
and loving-kindness, the chapters build upon
each other with meditations, exercises, and
reflections on our relationships to others,
the world, and with ourselves. I’ll cut to the
chase. You have to love everybody. Yep.
Everybody. It will not always be easy.
Salzberg suggests mindfulness as a way to
develop an objective view of ourselves – the
stories we tell ourselves, and the stories others
tell about us. She acknowledges cultural and
historical influences on these narratives includ-
ing the archetype of the soulmate who will fix
our lives, the entertainment industry’s failure
to promote non-violent heroic action, and
common negative associations with “loving
everybody.”
“We live in a world punctuated by horrify-
ing acts of violence, in which entire groups
of people are marginalized by virtue of race,
class, religion, nationality, and sexual prefer-
ence. How is it even possible to be loving it
all?” Salzberg asks.
The work of healing and personal growth
through the practice of love expands our
ability to experience the depth of the present
moment – a spectacular tool in your mindful-
ness toolkit. To become masterful, one must
use the tool, again and again, increasing in
understanding and refining in technique.
Salzberg says, “I’d be the first to acknowl-
edge that this work is never done... Inspira-
tion points us to a bigger world than the
one we may have been inhabiting, where we
suddenly can see that human beings can go
through so much and still be kind.” Salzberg
suggests that “loving everybody” might just
be the only “real love” there is.Reviewed by Ben Decker who is a political activist,
public speaker, and meditation teacher at Unplug
Meditation, Wanderlust Hollywood, The DEN Medi-
tation, and Mystic Journey. bendeckermeditation.com