About The Film

SUPERFOOD OR SUPER HYPE?

Are so called superfoods really that great for you? And how does the burgeoning global demand impact the indigenous cultures who grow the food and depend on it as a staple?

The Superfood Chain is a beautiful cinematic documentary that investigates how the superfood industry affects the lives of farming families from Bolivia, Ethiopia, Philippines, and Haida Gwaii.

This website provides information, recipes, and videos about superfoods from around the world. You are invited to explore the vast world of superfoods, striving for a more sustainable, fair, and healthy future.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

When I became a mom, I became hyper aware of the food I was feeding my family. I wanted the very best for them and so whenever a new superfood came to market, I’d buy it and serve it up, no questions asked. But when my six-year-old daughter asked me where her quinoa crusted salmon came from, I had no answers. When I started to look into it, what I discovered was eye-opening.

While superfoods have become a globalized trend, few people know if they’re really that great for you, and even fewer realize the profound impact that the superfood industry has on the farmers who produce them and the indigenous communities who rely on them as a staple food. The Superfood Chain takes a closer look at the superfoods we eat as well as the lives of superfood producing families around the world.

In this film, I travel to meet superfood farmers and fisherfolk, to witness firsthand the impact the world’s obsession with superfoods. How have their lives changed since the superfood boom? How have their diets changed? And what can we do as consumers to help sustainable practices in farming and fishing communities?

– Ann Shin

TVO Presents
with the participation of the TELUS FUND
and the CANADIAN MEDIA FUND
a FATHOM FILM GROUP PRODUCTION

Directed and Produced by Ann Shin
Executive Producer, TVO: Jane Jankovic
Independent Production Officer, TVO: Linda Fong
Executive Producer, Digital, TVO: Kathy Vey

Produced by: Erica Leendertse & Hannah Donegan
Written by: Ann Shin & Liam O’Rinn
Director of Photography: Stephen Chung
Additional Photography: Christopher Romeike
Editor: Steve Guise
Original Music: Ari Posner