Friday, September 2

a can of beans -interviews at b&m in portland, me







The filmmaker is Gabriella Kessler, a French-American documentarian. A Can of Beans (2003) is a "glimpse inside the B&M [Burnham & Morrill Co. -ed.] baked bean factory in Portland, Maine... As the production of food becomes increasingly global and mechanized, how long can a small, local Maine company survive?"

Video is part factory tour and part social snapshot. It reveals conundrum of the north east; as people from "here" move out and from "away" move in, prices go up, tourism becomes more crucial, reliance on tourism drives up prices for the natives, repeat. The B&M workers may not have the answers themselves but worth watching. Also, I love baked beans... mmmm. If B&M would maybe not use HFCS I could categorically cosign here.