Triplex Cinema to Screen Documentary on Sustainable Diets, Host Panel Discussion

08:04AM / Saturday, April 19, 2025Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Triplex Cinema will host a screening of the documentary film "Eating Our Way to Extinction" on April 22, followed by a panel discussion featuring author Ginny Messina, environmental activist Brittany Ebling, and Susan Purser.

Narrated by Academy Award-winner Kate Winslet, the film explores the environmental impact of meat production, advocating for the avoidance of animal products as a means toward a sustainable future. The documentary reportedly presents issues such as deforestation, air and water pollution, and resource depletion through a combination of journalism, scientific data, interviews, and investigative reporting.

This event marks the beginning of the Triplex 2025 Environmental Series, sponsored by the Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation and the Lenox-based Roaring Brook Foundation.

A reception with food samples from the Berkshire Food Co-op will follow the screening and panel discussion in the Triplex Lobby. Tickets for the event are available for purchase at www.thetriplex.org.

"Eating Our Way to Extinction," directed by Otto Brockway and Ludovic Brockway, with Kate Winslet as an executive producer, was released in 2021 and received the Best Documentary award at the 2022 Environmental Media Awards.

Ginny Messina, a Berkshire County resident and registered dietician known for her work in plant-based nutrition, will participate in the panel and sign copies of her book, "Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to Be Healthy on a Plant-based Diet," co-authored with Jack Norris. Related materials will be displayed in the Triplex lobby.

Gail Lansky, President of the Triplex Board, expressed gratitude to the Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation and the Roaring Brook Foundation for their support of the environmental series. She noted the success of the previous year's screenings in bringing the community together and anticipates a similar outcome this year. Lansky also acknowledged Stephanie Blumenthal for her efforts in organizing the event.

The Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation supports initiatives in environmental awareness, alternative health care, and the arts, with a focus on educational projects for underserved populations, particularly young people. The Roaring Brook Foundation supports nonprofits in the areas of climate resilience and environmental stewardship, local food systems and nutrition security, and youth leadership, outdoor education, and liberal arts.

Triplex Cinema, Inc., a nonprofit organization, offers a variety of films, including first-run, independent, foreign language, classic, children’s, and documentary features, as well as locally produced films and thematic programming. The Triplex also collaborates with schools and local nonprofits on community-focused programming.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

RIBCO Supply

Check out our great lineup of Boss Plows, and spreaders. 2 Locations Clarksburg & Pittsfield!

ribcosupply.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

South County Celebrates 250th Anniversary of the Knox Trail

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
06:18PM / Sunday, January 11, 2026

State Sen. Paul Mark carries the ceremonial linstock, a device used to light artillery. With him are New York state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and state Sen. Nick Collins of Suffolk County.

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. —The 250th celebration of American independence began in the tiny town of Alford on Saturday morning.

Later that afternoon, a small contingent of re-enactors, community members and officials marched from the Great Barrington Historical Society to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center to recognize the Berkshire towns that were part of that significant event in the nation's history.

State Sen. Paul Mark, as the highest ranking Massachusetts governmental official at the Alford crossing, was presented a ceremonial linstock flying the ribbons representing every New York State county that Henry Knox and his team passed through on their 300-mile journey from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the winter of 1775-76.

"The New York contingent came to the border. We had a speaking program, and they officially handed over the linstock, transferring control of the train to Massachusetts," said Mark, co-chair of Massachusetts' special commission for the semiquincentennial. "It was a great melding of both states, a kind of coming together."

State Rep. Leigh Davis called Knox "an unlikely hero, he was someone that rose up to the occasion. ... this is really honoring someone that stepped into a role because he was called to serve, and that is something that resonates."

Gen. George Washington charged 25-year-old bookseller Knox with bringing artillery from the recently captured fort on Lake Champlain to the beleaugured and occupied by Boston. It took 80 teams of horses and oxen to carry the nearly 60 tons of cannon through snow and over mountains.

Knox wrote to Washington that "the difficulties were inconceivable yet surmountable" and left the fort in December. He crossed the Hudson River in early January near Albany, crossing into Massachusetts on what is now Route 71 on Jan. 10, 1776. By late January, he was in Framingham and in the weeks to follow the artillery was positioned on Dorchester Heights.

View Full Story