We are excited to host (online) a series of films that highlight farms, nonprofits, and community members on a mission to change the way we think and act about food. The films are executive produced by the Prince Charitable Trusts and the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University, and created by Aditi Desai and Vanina Harel.
Collard greens are more than a simple side dish. Michael Twitty shares the African-American cultural history of this leafy green. Gail Taylor a grower with Three Part Harmony Farm, honors her ancestors and nourishes her community by cultivating this nutritious vegetable. Rebecca Lemos-Otero and Lola Bloom of City Blossoms teach youth to get their hands dirty by growing delicious collard greens from seeds.
The Culture of Collards from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
Tony Newcomb dreamed of farming and his partner Hiu followed him from Ohio to northern Virginia to rent land and start a farm. With Tony’s passing in 1984, Hiu continues to sow the seeds of their collective dream into its fifth decade at Potomac Vegetable Farms with her daughter Hana Newcomb and friend Ellen Polishuk.
50 Years of Farming: For Love & Vegetables from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
What do you do when the next generation does not want to take over the family farm? How do you keep that land in production? These are the questions at the heart of Cliff Miller’s journey to find stewards to care for the land he loves. He finds those persons in Mike and Molly Peterson of Heritage Hollow Farms and Rachel Bynum and Eric Plaksin of Waterpenny Farm.
Farming for the Future from Aditi Desai on Vimeo.
If you enjoyed the Farming for the Future film series, you may also wish to screen When Mickey Came to Town, a 30-minute film about a campaign, waged more than twenty years ago, to stop The Walt Disney Company from building an American history themed park in the historic countryside of the Virginia Piedmont.