About a year ago, I stood in front of the shelves of eggs at Harris Teeter and found myself at a crossroads.

My mother stood behind me, waiting for me to pick out eggs and add them to the basket. She had generously offered to buy me groceries, and I needed eggs to make Hubbard squash pie. I looked back and forth from the organic, free-range eggs my roommates and I usually buy, to the (considerably less expensive) eggs that I knew (knew) came from large-scale chicken houses where chickens were kept in dark cages, eating their own feces, waiting for a swift and gruesome slaughter. They were probably pumped full of steroids and antibiotics first.

So what’s the problem, you ask? Remember my mother? Standing right behind me? Yeah.

So cut back to me, alone at a crossroads, wondering whether to stand by my principles and buy the (considerably more expensive) eggs from happy chickens, or the cheaper, non-organic eggs that I knew my mother would approve of.

I reached out. I made a decision. I selected the free-range, organic eggs. My mother rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

There are certainly more than two sides to the organic food debate. What do all the terms (cage-free, organic, free range, Fair Trade, etc.) mean? How do you maintain ethical eating habits on a tight budget? At what point does organic farming actually compromise sustainability? And where does the small family farm fit into the mix?

The Chrysler Museum of Art is launching its On Screen/In Person Film Series with a film that addresses many of these issues. “What’s ‘Organic’ About Organic” takes an in-depth look at the organic food movement, what role farmers, activists, and scientists play, and how their actions trickle down to the people who stand in front of the egg section at the supermarket (or the meat, or the produce section).

The Chrysler Museum will be showing “What’s ‘Organic’ About Organic” on Wednesday, September 21, at 7pm in the Kaufman Theatre. Admission is free for museum members, and $5 for everyone else. The On Screen/In Person Film Series will include a variety of films, covering topics from letter press printing to beatboxing; this is the only film dedicated to food.

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