\n\tFor almost 15 years, Vivian Sorenson was surrounded by some of the world\u2019s best food as one of the original architects of the Food Network show \u201cChopped.\u201d But, while her fellow producers were captivated by the chefs\u2019 stories or their creative recipes, Sorenson always found herself yearning to dig even deeper into the meal.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was always the one saying, \u2018Well, what about this ingredient? Where does it come from? Let\u2019s make sure we\u2019re sourcing it correctly,\u2019\u201d Sorenson told Variety<\/em> at the inaugural Skyfire Environmental Film Festival<\/a>. As the show platformed the chefs, she was interested in learning where the food comes from. \u201cBut in a format of television show, honestly, there\u2019s only so much you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSorenson gets her curiosity and her social consciousness honestly. \u201cMy grandparents were social justice organizers, and then my parents were both conservationists and protectors of wilderness,\u201d Sorenson said with a laugh. \u201cI was taught from an early age: \u2018Here\u2019s the baton, go do something with your life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWith that in mind, Sorenson and her co-director, Jonathan Nastasi, set out on an eight-year journey to craft \u201cFork in the Road<\/a>,\u201d a documentary that takes audiences inside the growing movement to rethink our food system. The film, its logline explains, puts a spotlight on the farmers, chefs and advocates working to \u201crebuild a healthier relationship between the land, the table and the communities they feed.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSorenson\u2019s movie is populated with small-scale farmers and environmental activists<\/a>, as well as one A-list agitator: Nick Offerman. (He couldn\u2019t make the special screening because he was in England shearing sheep and lambing.)<\/p>\n \n\tWorking with the actor, author and humorist \u2014 whose filmography ranges from \u201cParks and Recreation\u201d to \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d \u2014 was special because he came to the project organically. Offerman is a massive fan of novelist, environmental activist and farmer Wendell Berry, whose work inspired elements of the film. (Berry and his daughter, Mary Berry, executive director of the Berry Center, are also featured in the documentary.)<\/p>\n \n\tOfferman appears throughout the film, reminiscing about growing up in the small-town farming community of Minooka, Ill., and voicing his concerns that that way of life is being threatened by industrialized farming. \u201cHe\u2019s not the narrator of the movie; he\u2019s another expert who has lived this,\u201d Sorenson says.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tVivian Sorenson sits for a post-screening Q&A moderated by Variety<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMartez Cornelius\/Shutterstock for Skyfire Environmental Film Festival<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/VIP-Dinner-raws-90.jpg?w=1024\")
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