mom & pop

I also watched this on the Sundance Channel last night (it was the premier showing of it on that channel). This film is also dealing with the haves and have nots but on a more commercial level. The makers of the film, husband and wife reporting team, Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes, left their home in Vancouver, British Columbia, to take 2-lane highways through 32 states in the United States. They wanted to see the impact of big box stores / commercial giants, WalMart, Starbucks, and Borders Books, on local economies and how that affected the Mom & Pop type stores.

They met some interesting people and toured some great towns. In fact, in Arcata, California, they went to a Co-Op that I wish we could have here. It was almost entirely made up of organic foods and locally grown foods and it was HUGE. The meat they sell is raised specifically for that store and the honeys and jams are all made for that store. Amazing.

They even visited my town, where we had a big fight about having another WalMart come in to town. It was great to see local names that I recognized on the screen and to understand both sides of the argument (sadly, the referendum did not pass and WalMart, who spent millions to make sure it didn’t, will be able to come in with yet another store).

This documentary is fantastic because it goes to the people who are fighting the battles, trying to make a living, and to stay alive. They visited small cities like Flagstaff and very small towns with less than 1,000 people. They were not judgmental with their interviewing styles. They looked at both sides of the topic and let the viewer make his/her own decision about it. I liked that. I didn’t feel pushed to think a certain way.