Sept. 08--You might find Jeff Spitz in a classroom at Columbia College, where he is an associate professor in its department of Cinema Art + Science. You might find him, as we recently did one afternoon in Federal Plaza, along with his wife, Jennifer Amdur, scouring the offerings at one of the increasing number of farmers markets that dot the city and suburbs every summer. And you would find the couple this week in the Dominican Republic, where they have been flown by the government of that country for the Latin American premiere of their film, "Food Patriots," which has been translated into Spanish and will be screening in a number of cities there.
"And that's a long way from chickens in a backyard in Northbrook," Spitz says.
Yes, he and his wife used to have chickens at home, and that was the first step in the creation of a healthy lifestyle that helped give birth to a film that is becoming something of an international sensation -- a call to action for people to start caring about what they eat.
Now, before you start to cringe, please know that Spitz is no wild-eyed, manic-tongued zealot.
"I hate yardwork. I hate to talk about organic food," he says. "But I love telling stories and listening to other people talk about food. Stories about food are the most wonderful, accessible, heartening stories of all. There isn't a kid anywhere who can't tell you a powerful food story, about being hungry or about a loved one making something special."
It was a kid, the offspring of Spitz and his wife (a strategic communications consultant), whose story started this lifestyle/cinematic journey, and did so in a most chilling fashion.
Their son Sam was a star athlete at Whitney Young High School, a starting varsity pitcher as a freshman and a member of the varsity football team as a sophomore. Then he went to lunch.
He ordered, thinking healthy, a chicken Caesar salad. And then he got a stomachache.
"Just go to the bathroom," his father said. "You'll be OK."
But he was not. He began bleeding and was taken to a hospital, where doctors tested for salmonella and E.coli. He did not suffer from either of those bacterial infections. They went to another hospital and there were more tests, but Sam stayed sick and tearfully asked, "Why are you not telling me I have stomach cancer?"
He did not. Eventually he and his parents learned that he had been infected with a bacterium called campylobacter.
"It was a superbug, a form that was antibiotic-resistant," says Spitz. His son was sick for more than a month, lost 30 pounds and almost a full season of sports.
"This was caused by the food he ate, a result of the antibiotics used in the feeding of poultry and pork," says Spitz. "This caused us to ask a lot of questions about food and where it comes from. And that's when we bought the chickens."
He and his wife also started nonprofit Chicago-based Groundswell Educational Films with a mission to make films that address social justice issues.
"We never intended when we first started to make 'Food Patriots' that we would dive deeply into our son's story," Spitz says.
But it is a good thing they did, for it gives this compelling film a very personal and powerful punch. There are many other empowering stories in "Food Patriots" (www.foodpatriots.com), which aims to spread awareness of the dangers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and showcase people who grow organic foods. There's the story of LaManda Joy, who founded the Peterson Garden Project (www.petersongarden.org), which transformed a vacant North Side lot into a successful urban food garden, selling to local restaurants and individuals. There is the story of the entire men's and women's athletic departments at the University of Wisconsin, where student athletes are taught how to shop and cook healthy. "The term 'food patriot' means different things to different people, like 'love,' like 'democracy,' like 'faith,'" Spitz says.
"My wife coined the phrase as she was looking at all these people around the country trying to connect food and health."
The movie was released in 2014 and has won awards at various film festivals. More important, it has been screened for many groups, schools and organizations, and Spitz says: "I have loved going to the variety of places that have asked to see the film, from Calumet City to Highland Park. The crowds are people from 2 to 82, and they are now thinking about what they are eating. They are a lot like I used to be, someone who never thought about these things until some years ago."
They and the film don't ask much, just that people try to make a 10 percent change in the way they buy and consume food.
But the filmmakers are mindful there are inequities that make that difficult.
"It is heartening to us that lots of Americans are waking up to the fact many people have fewer choices than others," Spitz says. "We can't just give junk food to poor people and give rich people organic food because they can afford it."
He and Jennifer moved back into the city last summer. Sam graduated summa cum laude from Colgate University in 2013, having played football at the University of Wisconsin, and has just completed a master's in U.S. history at the University of Oxford. The couple's other son, A.J., was a football star at Glenbrook North High School and is now a wide receiver and communications major at Drake University.
Jeff and Jennifer no longer keep chickens at their home in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.
"But maybe we'll have some back in the spring," says Jeff. "That would be nice. I miss those eggs."
"After Hours With Rick Kogan" airs 9-11 p.m. Sundays on WGN-AM 720.
rkogan@tribune.com
