- Stories from the Ground
Youth Celebrating Local Through Film
Crunchy fall leaves, seaweed fried rice, and inspiring youth films were just a few notable memories from our week at Devour! The Food Film Fest.
Over the last decade, Nourish Nova Scotia has proudly partnered with the Devour! Food and Film Fest as the lead for youth programming, delivering an unforgettable experience for youth, through the Big Picture Program and the Youth Food and Flim Challenge.
The Big Picture Program brings big ideas about food to the big screen and invites school children from across Nova Scotia to an interactive film screening experience at the Devour! Studios. This initiative has already reached more than 4,500 students across Nova Scotia, sparking curiosity and conversation about the food systems that shape their lives. This year’s lineup featured three standout films: Seaweed Stories, Future Council, and Priced to Thrill. During the post-film discussion for Priced to Thrill, students had the unique opportunity to engage directly with the filmmaker Stephanie Joline and the Gateway Meat Market co-owner Tanya Pelley, diving into the story behind the film and sparking thoughtful dialogue about local food systems and community connections.
The Nourish Food and Film Challenge is hosted annually to spotlight youth voices and creativity around a specific theme – and this year’s theme was Celebrating Local.
As part of this year’s challenge, we received over 30 inspiring submissions showcasing local farms, markets, fisheries, gardens, and more. Ember Gaetz’s short film Zero Waste & Local Food took the top prize for her film, which brought to light the importance of minimizing plastic waste through our food purchases. Alongside Ember, we had two runner ups:; Cohen Vardy (Apples), and Ever Hare Wright (Backyard Harvest).
These powerful youth stories were screened at Devour! The Food Film Fest, where they reached new audiences and sparked meaningful conversations about food, sustainability, and youth leadership.
And to top it all off, this year we received a surprise request from Kings-Edgehill School and The Booker School, for support with a youth-led film screening. Through this experience, participants of the Food and Film Challenge had the opportunity to screen their films to their peers – which prompted many laughs, gasps, and applauses, and engaged youth in a conversation about their film-making experience.
From an older student to younger students in the group: “finish editing early so you have time to review” while another suggested to “shoot different angles”. An abundance of advice, feedback, and praise were shared amongst the students- it was clear there was not only an interest in film but also sharing their perspectives about food topics.
Thank you to Devour! The Food Film Fest for welcoming us for another year of encouraging youth to share their voices in shaping food systems through film.
Watch Ember’s winning film and other submissions for this year’s theme – Celebrating Local.
