The Student Animators:

Kevin Gonzalaz

Bio: Kevin is a senior from MetWest. Kevin likes to be with his girlfriend, do video production and learn new things on the web.

Kevin says, “Every stage of the production is key and on that software, we had to trace our hand-made drawings, create scenes and characters to have them be digital, add color and soon import onto Adobe After Effects.“

Hector Verduzco

MetWest student Hector Verduzco working on a scene in Illustrator.

Bio: Hector is a sophomore at MetWest, what he enjoys is drawing graffiti, playing sports and hanging out with friends.

Hector says: “Its an animation addressing many of the global problems that we face on a daily basis and the steps we can take in order to make sure that we stop perpetuating this horrible cycle of global warming.“

Karen Perez

MetWest Karen Perez student having fun on the job.

Bio: Karen is a freshman at MetWest, she enjoys listening to music, playing around with friends and texting on her phone.

Karen says “ What I learned during the project was how to use illustrator and learned more about climate change… and what change we could do to help prevent …floods and saving species of animals.”

Samaiyah Zareef-Mustafa

MetWest student Samaiyah at KDOL.

Bio: Samaiyah enjoy cooking, drawing and gardening.

Samaiyah says “Also, everyone had a lot of ideas about the video but we all had a chance to express ourselves and contribute equally…I can say that everyone enjoyed themselves and is pleased with the final project.”

Pancho

MetWest student at KDOL working on grocery scene.

Bio: Pancho likes to do graffiti, work with Adobe illustrator and listen to music.

Pancho says ” taught us things by steps so we can not only do the video on time, but get new skills and learning new things every time we came“

Guayo Cartagena

MetWest student Guayo making faces.

Bio: Guayo enjoys fiddling with Final Cut like Folk do with Fiddles. He also enjoys puns and is a fan of the Hip-Hop genre. He also enjoys basketball.

Guayo says “It is only with a unified effort that we can begin to shave off many of the effects global warming brings to beard of our planet.”

Dontae Sharp

MetWest student at KDOL

Bio:  Dontae is a sophomore at MetWest, he loves to play basketball, likes hip-hop music and loves to do engaging activities.

Dontae says “The problem is learning about climate change has been hard for me, just like a lot of other teens who have taken interest or heard about it. Its hard to actually picture the effects that we have on the climate and our world…Green house gases stay in the amosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. Knowing that we make cars and other engine based machines which produce a lot of co2 and other green house gases has opened my eyes to our problem with producing too much green house gas.“

Francisco Palma

MetWest student working on room animation.

Bio: Francisco is a freshman at MetWest, he enjoys playing FIFA 2013

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MetWest student Lawrence at KDOL

Bio: Lawrence is a senior at MetWest, what he enjoys it to run track, sing and act.

Lawrence says “I feel as if we put all of the information that we wanted people to know but to also give them solutions to fix the problems that we as a community should see and understand how it will affect the word we live in.“

The Mentors:

Jake Schoneker

Bio: Jake is the Program Director at the Media Enterprise Alliance at KDOL-TV and Executive Producer of Muse Video. He’s a graduate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and an experienced multimedia storyteller. His work has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, the Washington Post, the AFP and the Phnom Penh Post.

What Jake says “It was a real pleasure getting to work with such a talented group of young people on this project. From the beginning concept to the final animation steps, everybody put their mark on the final product. As a video artist and someone who’s concerned about the climate, I’m so excited  to be part of this project.“ 

Kevin Kuo Bio: Film & Animation, Sports, Music

What Kevin says “A challenging project to achieve both narrative and stylistic creativity.”

More details below:

This spring, Muse Video, KDOL-TV and Youth Uprising are proud to announce the Food Fight Song Contest, an open invitation to young bay area rappers, singers and poets to submit lyrics that address the topics of food justice, nutrition, and obesity, and how these issues affect their community. Our panel of judges will select artists with the most creative and thought-provoking lyrics to perform on a brand new, professionally produced track and music video addressing the topic–to be featured on Muse Video’s next episode and broadcast on KDOL TV Oakland! (Comcast channel 27, 99 on AT&T)

What We’re Looking For:

• Submit 16 bars and an idea for a hook that address the broad idea of the “Food Fight”– whether it’s fighting to improve access to healthy food in low-income neighborhoods, to get young people to eat healthier and exercise more, or against heart disease and obesity. Check the stats and links below for more information and ideas to get started.
• Send your lyrics via email to: [email protected] — include your name, age, and a brief bio. Optional: If you want to go over the top, record a rough webcam video of you performing the song, upload to youtube and include the link in your email as well.
• Note: Submission deadline is March 18th. Winners will be announced by March 23rd.

Submit your lyrics today!

More Information on Food Justice:

For a lot of people in our community, healthy food can be hard to find. Driving through East or West Oakland, you’re a lot more likely to find a liquor store or a fast food restaurant than you are to find fresh fruits and vegetables. Even for people who want to eat healthy, they often can’t afford or don’t have access to the right kind of food.

That’s one reason America is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Between 16-33% of American children and teens are obese (not even counting the ones who are just overweight). Weight gain causes 300,000 deaths every year through heart disease, diabetes, and many kinds of cancers.

There’s a ton of information out there about the problem– but one good place to start is a study that came out last year called F as in Fat: how Obesity Threatens America’s Future. It shows how 20 years ago, no state in the US had an obesity rate over 15%. Now, most states have obesity rates over 25%.

It also talks about the food justice problem– and how poor neighborhoods are the hardest hit by the obesity epidemic.

Racial and ethnic minority adults, and those with less education or who make less money, continue to have the highest overall obesity rates:

• Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states, and 30 percent in 42 states and D.C.
• Rates of adult obesity among Latinos were above 35 percent in four states (Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas) and at least 30 percent in 23 states.
• Meanwhile, rates of adult obesity for Whites topped 30 percent in just four states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia) and no state had a rate higher than 32.1 percent.
• Nearly 33 percent of adults who did not graduate high school are obese, compared with 21.5 percent of those who graduated from college or technical college.

There’s no getting around it: food justice is a huge problem.

But many organizations here in the East Bay are working to help people access healthy food, learn to grow their own gardens, and take back the food system. Here are links to just a few of these organizations, where you can find more information on the topic.

Phat Beets Produce is a North Oakland-based food justice collective that supports local community gardens and farmers markets, and partners with Children’s Hospital Oakland on a youth market garden.

Planting Justice helps people in the community access food by teaching them to plant and grow it themselves. They help create backyard gardens as well as help maintain school and community garden spaces throughout Oakland.

People’s Grocery, based in West Oakland, is helping people in that community access healthy food by creating a mobile market, distributing “Grub Boxes”, and providing food justice education.

Also in West Oakland, City Slicker Farms has helped push urban farming to another level in Oakland by creating seven community market farms and over 100 backyard gardens in the community.

Finally, for a little inspiration, here’s a video called “Wheat Grass” by DJ Cavem, created by another great Oakland-based organization, Green For All:

There are many various causes for America’s obesity epidemic, and there are many ways to help fix it, too. Improving diet, exercise, and access to food are all important ways to make our community happier and healthier. Through your lyrics, you’ll be able to reach other young people in a fresh and powerful way, and help them make the right choices for their health and their future.

What will your message be?

What We’re Looking For:

• Submit 16 bars and an idea for a hook that address the broad idea of the “Food Fight”– whether it’s fighting to improve access to healthy food in low-income neighborhoods, to get young people to eat healthier and exercise more, or against heart disease and obesity. Check the stats and links below for more information and ideas to get started.
• Send your lyrics via email to: [email protected] — include your name, age, and a brief bio. Optional: If you want to go over the top, record a rough webcam video of you performing the song, upload to youtube and include the link in your email as well.
• Note: Submission deadline is March 18th. Winners will be announced by March 23rd.

Submit your lyrics today!

More Information on Food Justice:

For a lot of people in our community, healthy food can be hard to find. Driving through East or West Oakland, you’re a lot more likely to find a liquor store or a fast food restaurant than you are to find fresh fruits and vegetables. Even for people who want to eat healthy, they often can’t afford or don’t have access to the right kind of food.

That’s one reason America is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Between 16-33% of American children and teens are obese (not even counting the ones who are just overweight). Weight gain causes 300,000 deaths every year through heart disease, diabetes, and many kinds of cancers.

There’s a ton of information out there about the problem– but one good place to start is a study that came out last year called F as in Fat: how Obesity Threatens America’s Future. It shows how 20 years ago, no state in the US had an obesity rate over 15%. Now, most states have obesity rates over 25%.

It also talks about the food justice problem– and how poor neighborhoods are the hardest hit by the obesity epidemic.

Racial and ethnic minority adults, and those with less education or who make less money, continue to have the highest overall obesity rates:

• Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states, and 30 percent in 42 states and D.C.
• Rates of adult obesity among Latinos were above 35 percent in four states (Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas) and at least 30 percent in 23 states.
• Meanwhile, rates of adult obesity for Whites topped 30 percent in just four states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia) and no state had a rate higher than 32.1 percent.
• Nearly 33 percent of adults who did not graduate high school are obese, compared with 21.5 percent of those who graduated from college or technical college.

There’s no getting around it: food justice is a huge problem.

But many organizations here in the East Bay are working to help people access healthy food, learn to grow their own gardens, and take back the food system. Here are links to just a few of these organizations, where you can find more information on the topic.

Phat Beets Produce is a North Oakland-based food justice collective that supports local community gardens and farmers markets, and partners with Children’s Hospital Oakland on a youth market garden.

Planting Justice helps people in the community access food by teaching them to plant and grow it themselves. They help create backyard gardens as well as help maintain school and community garden spaces throughout Oakland.

People’s Grocery, based in West Oakland, is helping people in that community access healthy food by creating a mobile market, distributing “Grub Boxes”, and providing food justice education.

Also in West Oakland, City Slicker Farms has helped push urban farming to another level in Oakland by creating seven community market farms and over 100 backyard gardens in the community.

Finally, for a little inspiration, here’s a video called “Wheat Grass” by DJ Cavem, created by another great Oakland-based organization, Green For All:

There are many various causes for America’s obesity epidemic, and there are many ways to help fix it, too. Improving diet, exercise, and access to food are all important ways to make our community happier and healthier. Through your lyrics, you’ll be able to reach other young people in a fresh and powerful way, and help them make the right choices for their health and their future.

What will your message be?