First We Eat

First We Eat is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Suzanne Crocker and released in 2020.[1] The film documents the attempts of Crocker and her family, after a landslide temporarily blocked highway access to their hometown of Dawson City, Yukon, to spend a full year exclusively consuming food that had been hunted, fished, gathered, grown or raised locally, while carefully considering the environmental and social impacts of modern commercial transport of food.[2]

Crocker first announced the project in 2017.[3] The film's production website also incorporates an ongoing collaborative project on food security, including guides to foraging for edible wild plants, a seed guide to fruits and vegetables that grow well in Yukon, and a recipe guide to dishes that can be cooked with local ingredients available in the Dawson City area.[4]

The film premiered as part of the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada it was not screened theatrically, but premiered as part of the festival's online streaming component.[6] It was named one of five winners of the festival's Audience Award, alongside the films The Walrus and the Whistleblower, 9/11 Kids, The Forbidden Reel and There's No Place Like This Place, Anyplace.[7]