'We Are All Plastic People Now' Film Screening and Discussion

Join Slow Food Phoenix and Arizona State University partners for a viewing of the 2023 documentary, We're All Plastic People Now, directed by Rory F. Fielding. 

There will be a reception before the screening that begins at 5:15 p.m. with a Q&A following the film: 

Reception starts at 5:15 p.m.
Film screening starts at 6 p.m.
Q&A begins at 7 p.m.

About We're All Plastic People Now

In an era of throw-away ease, convenience has cost us our well-being. Plastics have been found inside our bodies- in our colons, our brains, and even in mothers' developing wombs. Scientists around the country are sounding the alarm, but without public buy-in, there is little that can be done. How much evidence do we need before we decide to take action? (Running time: 59 mins)

Click here to watch the trailer. 

About the speakers

Rolf Halden is director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, professor in the Ira A. Fulton School for Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, and senior sustainability scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

Halden is a noted expert in determining where in the environment mass-produced chemicals wind up, their impact on health, and how to remove them from contaminated water resources, aquifers and agricultural soils. Toxins of interest include dioxins, anti-bacterial products, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), organohalides, problematic plastics and their additives, as well as pesticides – all having potential health impacts, including adverse birth outcomes, inflammation and increased risk of cancer.

In his research, Halden detected antimicrobial additives of personal care products, used as far back as the 1960s, to persist to this day in estuarine sediments along the East Coast. In 2004, his team first discovered triclocarban as a pollutant of the U.S. environment nationwide. In multiple invited presentations, Halden has provided scientific updates on environmental and human health concerns associated with antimicrobial compounds to the FDA, EPA, the National Academies and U.S. Congress. 

To read more of Professor Halden's bio click here.

Joan McGregor’s current research interests are focused on a number of questions in moral and legal philosophy.

Bioethics and environmental ethics join in research on the moral issues in sustainability. One of the most pressing sustainability questions pertains to modern food systems. Contemporary food systems are complex and multinational, involving workers and consumers from diverse cultures and economies. These systems must be capable of feeding large culturally varied populations without compromising social justice, human health, and the health of the planet.  These questions are multifaceted and require approaches and methods from a variety of disciplines. In order to tackle these challenges, McGregor’s current  project is directing "Just Food," a multi-year, transdisciplinary project designed to research moral and cultural questions related to modern food production and consumption, including the consideration of the unintended consequences of the practices and technologies that we develop in our food systems.

McGregor directed three National Endowment for the Humanities summer institutes on sustainability, “Fierce Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and the Foundations of the Land Ethic” in 2009 and in 2011, “Beyond the Land Ethics: Sustainability and Humanities”, "Extending the Land Ethic."

To read more about Professor McGregor, click here. 

This event is made possible by the partnerships of the following ASU units 

• College of Global Futures
• The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Humanities Institute
• Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
• The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
• School for Complex Adaptive Systems
• School for the Future of Innovation and Society
• School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
• School of Sustainability
• Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems