Arts & Entertainment

Bethelite's Documentary Project Reaches Goal (And Then Some)

A Bethel resident's documentary on nutrition raised more than $58,000 of a $40,000 goal.

On his Kickstarter page, Bethel-based filmmaker Lathe Poland asked for $40,000 to help make Carb-Loaded, a documentary about nutrition and diabetes in America.

By the time fundraising closed Wednesday, he'd gotten more than $58,000.

Poland and co-filmmaker Eric Carlsen hope the project -- which interviews a host of nutrition experts, including NYU's Marion Nestle and Weighty Matters blogger Dr. Yoni Freedhoff -- will spark a debate about how people get their food -- and what role food economics play in the surging rates of diabetes.

"People think diabetes is something that happens to obese, unhealthy people," Poland told Patch in May. "While that's true to some extent, there's a lot of us in the world susceptible and it's because of our food culture, the way food is marketed to us."

The project raised the funds from 898 backers in just 35 days, hitting its goal August 5, according to Poland.

"[W]e made our funding...the film is getting made!" he said in a letter to Patch.

Poland and Carlsen work together on the Scene Lab, a film production company with offices in Bethel and New York.


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