Transforming the Tray: What we Eat, It Means Something

The videos are clear: if you want a healthier America, take action.  Every child deserves the opportunity to eat food in school that ensures their health and well-being and Farm to School programs are one solution to incorporating healthier foods into school meals.

One Tray, the national campaign to improve child nutrition by encouraging a more direct connection between local farms and federal nutrition, launched two short videos that explain the significance school food has in kids’ diets and seeks to ensure that those calories consumed are healthy ones. “Lunch Encounters,” a spoof of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and “Priceless,” a MasterCard parody, were created by Shalini Kantayya, of 7th Empire Media, Nicole Betancourt, of Parent Earth, and Debra Eschmeyer, of National Farm to School Network. The goal is to raise awareness of Farm to School for the upcoming reauthorization of federal child nutrition programs by depicting the cafeteria tray as the centerpiece for a reformed school food system that supports healthy children, local farms and smart schools. Learn more.

Credits

DIRECTOR Shalini Kantayya
PRODUCER Nicole Betancourt
DP Jay Silver
ACTORS Charlye Calizare, Kyrian Friedenberg (Dreyfuss character), Rebecca Goldfarb, Zen Lester, Jared Madridejos, Sydney C. Park, Avery Prescott, Alexia Nizhny
ART DESIGNER KelseyHall
EDITOR Shalini Kantayya
PRODUCTION MANAGER Seana Cavanagh
GAFFER Patrick Galvin
GRIP Krzysztof Aniolczyk
SOUND RECORDIST Craig Sion
MAKE-UP Stephanie Wise
CRAFT SERVICES Aqeel Salaam
SPECIAL EFFECTS Gavin Guerra
SOUND DESIGN Tom Gambale
THANK YOU Manhattan School for Children (PS 333 NYC)