How to feed 8,000 people, locally and sustainably

The idea sounded simple enough: to feed the attendees of a festival with locally produced food. The people behind

Uber Lebenskunst in Berlin took that very seriously, amassing their larder starting 15 months ahead of the festival date.

Meaning: They grew the sunflowers and reaped the seeds in order to make the oil. Grew the rosehips to make the wine and then the vinegar. Ewes were grown and, um, turned into merguez. Cabbages were grown and turned into sauerkraut. (This is Germany, after all.) Even the beer was entirely locally produced.

Oh, and the tablecloths! Woven from threads grown and sourced for the occasion.

Tomorrow night at 8pm at the Skirball Cultural Center, you can meet two of the people behind the effort called Pantry. Antje Schiffers and Thomas Sprenger will show a film that was made about the effort (which, by the way, fed 8,000 people – 3,000 more than was expected.)

If you thought Southern Californians were the only people into the local, sustainable food thing, come on out for the screening and meet some people who can teach us what it means to do that in a place that doesn’t boast year-round sunshine. And hear the deeper meaning of the effort, too. Hint: it’s as much about people and community as it is the meal. A taste of what Schiffers and Sprenger had to say here:

Here are some more photos from the project: