To learn more about the book, visit TheFamilyDinnerBook.com.

The Big Picture will follow the evolution of the obesity epidemic and what it reveals about the practices of the food industry, the government, and how we consume food. A group of children will provide additional narration though personal video diaries, sharing their own stories of living with obesity.

The Big Picture examines how American children are suffering, in dangerously high numbers, from obesity and related health problems like Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart conditions. The film will also look at the epidemic’s financial toll on our economy. The direct medical cost of obesity to the U.S economy is $168 billion annually, and is expected to rise to $344 billion by 2018. The film will include tangible solutions to empower the audience to make immediate and life-altering changes to take back control of their health.

“I’ve been reporting about childhood obesity for years now,” says executive producer Katie Couric, “but despite increased attention, the problem has only gotten worse. This documentary will be a thorough examination of why it’s so out of control and what we can do to change things for future generations.

“The true tragedy of the childhood obesity epidemic is that this condition is entirely preventable,” says producer and director Stephanie Soechtig. “Children are really just victims of a food system run amuck. Even if you’ve never struggled with your weight, anyone who eats will want to see this film. You’ll be absolutely blown away by the things we discovered when we pulled back the curtain on the food we eat and the system that controls it.”

Executive producer Laurie David adds, “Not since An Inconvenient Truth have I been so moved by an issue as I am by the heartbreaking epidemic of childhood obesity. One in three American kids is considered overweight or obese. All issues cross the dinner plate; the quality of the food our kids are eating is downright criminal and our health statistics support that. We need a film that tells the truth and empowers the consumer to protect their children.

In his keynote speech at the Future of Food conference, HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, sounded the alarm for an earth on the brink of agricultural disaster.

Soils are being depleted, demands for water growing ever more voracious, and the entire system is at the mercy of an increasingly fluctuating price of oil.

Although the Prince seemed an unlikely messenger, he drew upon his nearly 30 years of organic farming experience and sustainable food advocacy, artfully revealing the true costs of industrial agriculture — from soil degradation to water contamination — while raising hope for a future that is more ecologically viable.

“So far as I know, only one eminent person has had both the clarity to see and the courage to speak candidly about the obvious failures and dangers of industrial agriculture. That person is Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, who took his stand and made his challenge to industrial agriculture many years ago.” — Wendell Berry

From Speech to Book

Environmentalist and author Laurie David was in the audience that day. She immediately connected with the Prince’s message and, recognizing an opportunity to make a greater case — to a wider audience — for more sustainable food systems, David teamed with Rodale Books and GRACE Communications Foundation, a co-sponsor of the event, to create a printed publication of the speech.

GRACE also created OnTheFutureofFood.org as a place where people can learn more about the issues raised in the book, and what we can individually and collectively do to create positive change.

The book contains a foreword by Wendell Berry and an afterword by Will Allen and Eric Schlosser, all preeminent voices in the sustainable food movement.

“The Prince of Wales gave an important address on the heels of one of the biggest events in his life — his son’s wedding. With the eyes of the world upon him and his family, the Prince shined a spotlight on the dangerous nature of our current food system, clearly laying out how we got into this mess and how we can get out.” — Laurie David

Visit OnTheFutureofFood.org.

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Global warming isn’t opinion. It’s a scientific reality. The science shows that human activity has made enormous impacts to our planet that affect our well-being and survival. We can however begin to make significant repairs to reverse those impacts but only through immediate action. That’s why we urge you to join us and have your voice counted.

There are many simple things you can do in your daily life — what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home — that can have an effect on your immediate surroundings, and on places as far away as Antarctica.

Visit StopglobalWarming.org for a list of things you can do to make a difference.

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The Big Picture will examine the insidious causes and grave consequences (including health care costs) of obesity through the eyes of the children affected by it. For the past year, producer Stephanie Soechtig has been following 10 kids ages 11 through 17 who have been contributing personal video diaries about their struggles with weight, peer pressure and food choices.

Couric who mentors students at New York’s Harlem Village Academy, was struck by her own mentees’ lack of familiarity with fresh produce during an outing to the Union Square Farmers Market. “They had never had an asparagus or mushroom or different herbs,” she recalls. “Some of the kids had never eaten a raw carrot.”

Couric, who launches her talk show in September, likely will narrate. But she will not have an on-camera role. Couric and Soechtig met when Soechtig appeared on Couric’s CBS News web series to promote her 2009 documentary Tapped, about the bottled water industry. Soechtig, who worked in TV news before forming Atlas Films in 2008 with Michelle and Michael Walrath, has been a vegetarian since she was 15 years old. She grew up in a restaurant; her father, a German emigre, is a chef who owned a German-American restaurant – 1848 House – in Danbury, Conn.

“I would come to school with homemade liverwurst sandwiches on dark German bread,” she laughs. “I felt totally tortured.”

Today, her father teaches at the French Culinary Institute in Lower Manhattan. And Soechtig’s upbringing in a household where everything was homemade has given her a healthy respect for food and its origins. But she still had plenty to learn from her research for Big Picture.

“As women, we’re conditioned to want to lose weight, so we reach for nonfat foods,” she says. “But the amount of ingredients that go into something like nonfat cream cheese are probably far worse for you than if you ate the whole-fat version. So I look at processed foods completely differently now.”

Weight-loss shows have become a reality television staple with MTV’s I Used to Be Fat, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition and NBC’s The Biggest Loser in its 13th cycle. But The Big Picture follows in the activist tradition of Tapped, Inconvenient Truth and Gas Land — the Oscar-nominated doc that cast a critical eye on the fracking industry.

“You will see the emotional and human toll in an authentic and nonexploitive way,” says Soechtig. “This is coming straight from the kids. There isn’t a reality crew following them around.”

The Big Picture also will examine the impact of government subsidies and corporate interests on what makes it into supermarkets. Couric and Soechtig approached David, explains Couric, because “we wanted this to be a tipping point in the consciousness about childhood obesity. We thought that An Inconvenient Truth was such a tipping point when it came to awareness of global warming.”

The film is still about a year away from completion. And Soechtig plans a multiplatform grass-roots distribution model employed with Tapped, with film festival placement — next year’s Tribeca fest is a goal for Soechtig — and locally sponsored community screenings. Couric and David will executive produce with Michelle and Michael Walrath. Soechtig will produce and direct.

See the original article at The Hollywood Reporter.

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The producer of An Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David wants to help America’s overwhelmed families sit down to a Family Dinner, and she provides all the reasons, recipes, and fun tools to do so.

Laurie speaks from her own experience confronting the challenges of raising two teenage girls. Today’s parents have lots to deal with and technology is making their job harder than ever. Research has proven that everything we worry about as parents—from drugs to alcohol, promiscuity, to obesity, academic achievement and just good old nutrition— can all be improved by the simple act of eating and talking together around the table.

Laurie has written a practical, inspirational, fun (and, of course, green) guide to the most important hour in any parent’s day. Chock-full chapters include: over 75 kid-approved, fantastic recipes by Kirstin Uhrenholdt; tips on teaching green values; conversation starters; games to play to help even the shyest family member become engaged; ways to express gratitude; the family dinner after divorce (hint: keep eating together) and much more. Filled with moving memories and advice from the country’s experts from Alice Waters to Maya Angelou, this book will get everyone away from electronic screens and back to the dinner table.

The Family Dinner also includes words of wisdom from: Jamie Oliver, Mario Batali, Alice Waters, Mark Bittman, Cat Cora, Rev. Ed Bacon, Pat and Gina Neely, Soledad O’Brien, Tal Ronnen, Michael Pollan, Nora Ephron, Dr. Maya Angelou, Billy Collins, and many others.

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Global warming and its devastating effects are issues that dot headlines throughout the country on any given day. In her book Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You – An Activist’s Guide, producer and environmental activist Laurie David addresses the threat of global warming and urges readers to become the next wave of activists on this critical issue.

The Solution is You seeks to turn headlines into action by showing readers how every individual matters, and can make a real difference to help solve this urgent problem, in this growing movement to protect our future. From unplugging cell phone chargers when not in use, 
to purchasing post consumer recycled waste paper products, David suggests that it isn’t about doing everything, 
it’s about everyone doing something. She offers suggestions on how shifting basic everyday behaviors will help 
Americans reduce their own global warming pollution and help shift the country’s desire to tackle the problem
before its too late.

In this personal account of her journey into activism, David’s powerful voice inspires readers with grounded 
information on why everyone (and particularly young people) should get involved in the race to stop global
warming. Interspersed throughout the text, short statements by celebrities, mayors, governors, senators, business
leaders and other concerned Americans discuss why the issue of global warming is really about protecting all that
 we hold near and dear.

“So many people ask “what can I do?” and it is my hope that this book will help answer that question and inspire a
 whole new set of activists to help stop global warming,” says David.

Laurie David is also the founder of the Stop Global Warming Virtual March (StopGlobalWarming.org) that began 
in April of 2005. This historic initiative is engaging religious leaders, labor unions, elected officials from all sides
 of the aisle, business leaders, and American citizens to urge the United States to address the ticking time bomb 
that is global warming
.

The Solution is You: Stop Global Warming – An Activists Guide includes a foreword by David’s former 
husband, comedian Larry David, and an afterword by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Written for ages 8 and up, The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, is a comprehensive resource young readers can look to for understanding the science behind why global warming happens and how we can work together to stop it. Irreverent and entertaining, and packed with essential facts and suggestions on how kids can help combat global warming in their homes, schools, and communities, Down-to-Earth offers a message of hope.

Text pages for The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming will be printed on paper that contains 100% post-consumer waste fiber that is FSC-certified, using soy inks.

This important book, co-authored by a producer of the Academy Award-nominated documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, is designed to help children better understand global warming, how it is affecting the planet, and the important role they can play in protecting the environment.