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Farmers use a variety of advanced technologies, mechanized equipment, science based data, as well as fertilizers and pesticides to ensure a profitable harvest. More recently, advances in science has improved agricultural production by leaps and bounds in developing better products and processes that increase harvests while decreasing the negative impact on health and the environment.
Plant This Movie presents a comprehensive look at the evolution and growing impact of the international urban agriculture movement -- from cities across the United States to diverse countries around the world.
Featuring leading urban farming advocates, the film explores the inspiring success story of Cuba, and travels globally to communities of urban farmers in Shanghai, Calcutta, Addis Ababa, London, and Lima.
In the US, the film visits innovative projects in New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Philadelphia and Portland - including the largest rooftop garden in the world, blighted areas transformed into urban farms, student-run gardens and CSA, and other projects that show the explosion of creative local efforts.
The film begins by tracing the evolution of the household yard in America from a necessary source for food to the ubiquitous lawn, now the # 1 irrigated urban crop. After the highly productive Victory Gardens of WWII, the country moved rapidly to a more centralized food system, and people became divorced from the source of their food.
As Plant This Movie vividly illustrates, the ingredients for scaling up urban farming and reconnecting people to the food we eat are now all around us. The movement provides hope that people across the nation and the world will once again have access to healthier, locally grown food, using the land near where they live as a primary source.
Review
"Weaves the web of connections between many of the social and environmental problems we face today, and shows that their solution lies in the empowering creative joy of growing our own food." - Chris Summerville, Lecturer, Sustainability & Literature, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.
An intimate portrait of an ancestral way of life under threat in a world increasingly dominated by large-scale industrial agriculture.
In an era of rapid growth of mega-farms, the encroachment of suburbia and new European Union rules and reductions of agricultural subsidies, the farmers in the Perigord region of southwest France are forced to confront challenges that threaten the very existence of their small farms.
Their story is recorded by one of their neighbors, an American filmmaker who grew up on her family's farm in Pennsylvania. Inter-weaving her story and theirs, the documentary explores the nature of the farming life and the rapid changes of the last two decades that have impacted the lives of families whose survival is tied to the land.
The Perigordine farmers show us that as agriculture moves out of the hands of families who have farmed for generations and into a model of "agriculture as business," something fundamental shifts. This farming community caught between tradition and an uncertain future struggles to hold on not only to their farms but to a set of values that comes of their intimate relationship with the natural world. AFTER WINTER, SPRING reveals the human story of family farming at a turning point in history.
Reviews
"A beautifully shot film that takes complex issues of a globalizing food system and makes them relatable, personable and powerful." - Dr. Jonathan Deutsch, Program Director, Hospitality Management, Drexel University
"With beautiful imagery and poignant narration, the film makes it clear that the caring for field and fowl are really issues of the heart and staying connected to the land is vital to our understanding of what it means to be human." - John Rife, film critic and founder of East End Marke
"Make no mistake, this film doesn't only speak of loss and disillusionment, but also of renewal and a perhaps even of hope." - Anne Belchit, Sud-Oues
Awards
Best Foreign Documentary, Arizona International Film Festival
Examines the complex and controversial world of today's exploding organic food industry.
The last ten years have seen a phenomenal explosion in the organic food movement as it has moved from niche market to mainstream. Today, it is the fastest growing segment of the food industry attracting all of the major food corporations. THE NEW GREEN GIANTS looks at a number of these new and old organic corporations and shows how they are managing, or in some cases, failing to live up to the idealistic dreams first espoused by the back-to-the land folk of the late sixties and early seventies.
The documentary also looks at some of the bigger questions surrounding organic food. Is it really healthier? Is it truly organic? Is it possible to grow from a mom-and-pop operation to become a huge supplier of major grocery chains? Is it actually sustainable? Is it realistic to think the world can be fed organically?
The program further examines everything from stealth ownership of organic product lines by large corporations to how organic strawberries have become the focus of a major health debate and how is it that today the world's largest processor of organic food is located in a remote province of China. THE NEW GREEN GIANTS reveals the complex and controversial world of today's organic food industry.
Among those featured are: Gary Hirshberg/Stonyfield Farms, Steve Demos/Silk, Michael Potter/Eden Foods, Maggie Brown/Swanton Berry Farm, George Siemon/Organic Valley, Arran Stephens/Nature's Path, Myra Goodman/Earthbound, and Dick Peixoto/Lakeside Organic.
Reviews
"An interesting, informed and informative, nuanced and balanced movie...Highly Recommended!" - Gidon Eshel, Environmental Sciences, Bard College
One of the biggest challenges facing the farming industry today is feeding the growing world population while also caring for the environment. At the centre of this debate are industrial and sustainable farming practices. This presenter led program takes an in-depth look at the environmental issues caused by industrial farming practices and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of the sustainable alternatives. Interviews with vegetable farmer Peter Schreur, organic wine maker Darryl Soljan and Environmental Science lecturer Dr Terry Walshe discuss issues in environmental science, agribusiness and innovative ideas and technology changes in farming practices.
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Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
The prospect of using farmlands to grow fuel crops is expected to lead to an increase in food shortages and rises in food prices. The scientific community along with government agencies is searching for economic and regulatory incentives for sustainable farming. Genetically modified crops offer a smart but controversial solution to the threats of famine and malnutrition. In Kenya, people cook as a community, while in the Philippines, urbanites turn to subsistence farming.
Tap into the current trend of eating locally grown foods without the use of chemical pesticides or hormones! The basics of sustainable farming is explored through the eyes of three highly trained chefs who leave their big city jobs to carve out a place to grow fresh, healthy ingredients for their gourmet dishes. Discover how farm fresh food is grown, distributed and marketed as it travels from the farm to the table.
Scientists throughout the world are researching and implementing sustainable food production systems. Key concepts that underline this vital research are ecosystem preservation and natural resource conservation. Food production systems touch nearly every aspect of life - from farms and industrial processing plants to markets, grocery stores and the dinner table. Students will learn about the future sustainable 'food cycle'.
Blending seriousness and whimsy, filmmaker Ian Cheney explores the promise and perils of urban farming.
TRUCK FARM tells the story of a new generation of American farmers. Using green roof technology and heirloom seeds, filmmaker Ian Cheney plants a vegetable garden on the only land he's got: his Granddad's old pickup. Once the mobile garden begins to sprout, viewers are trucked across New York to see the city's funkiest urban farms, and to find out if America's largest city can learn to feed itself.
Blending serious exposition with serious silliness, TRUCK FARM entreats viewers to ponder the future of urban farming, and to consider whether sustainability needs a dose of whimsy to be truly sustainable. Featuring nutritionist Marion Nestle, chef Dan Barber, explorer Henry Hudson and a very lonely seagull.
Reviews
"Alternately giddy and pragmatic, Truck Farm makes the best sales pitch for grow-your-own I've ever seen. A must-see for anyone interested in agricultural empowerment and diversity." - Dr. Warren Belasco, Professor, American Studies, University of Maryland, Author, Food: The Key Concepts, Editor, Food, Culture and Society
"Truck Farm illustrates a rebirth of interest among young people in agriculture. With passion and ingenuity, you can find a way to farm anywhere." - Dr. Joseph Heckman, Professor, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers University
"This film is so mind altering, you will never look at an empty space the same way again, no matter how small!" Laurie David, Author, The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time, Producer, An Inconvenient Truth
Awards
Audience Award & Jury Award, Green Film Festival, Seoul
Most Uplifting Film Award, Cinema Verde Environmental Film Festival
Jury Honorable Mention, Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival
Much of our food source is made up of thousands of plants that are grown from seeds and there are literally thousands of varieties of fruits and vegetables grown worldwide. The importance of maintaining a healthy seed supply is key to human survival. In this program, students learn about the importance of seeds and what scientists can do to ensure their protection. They will also discover how some plants can be recreated without the use of seeds. In a cloning process, scientists make new plants from a tiny piece of a single parent plant. A single rare species of plant can be cloned thousands of times, creating whole new generations. Includes suggestions for careers in this field of study.
Terms Covered In This Edition Include:
Cloning, Genetic, Germplasm, Mutant, Nitrogen, Seed, Tissue Culture
An intimate look at the farmers, ranchers, and businesses that are creating a more sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest.
Directed by Mark Dworkin, Melissa Young
Editor: Mark Dworkin
Screenwriter: Melissa Young, Mark Dworkin
Cinematographer: Mark Dworkin
Music: Jami Sieber, Mark Graham, Los Emocionantes, Jack Knauer Band
Something remarkable is happening in the fields and orchards of the Pacific Northwest. After leaving the land for decades, family farmers are making a comeback. They are growing much healthier food, and more food per acre, while using less energy and water than factory farms. And most of this food is organic.
For decades Northwest agriculture was focused on a few big crops for export. But climate change and the end of cheap energy mean that each region needs to produce more of its own food and to grow it more sustainably. Good Food visits farmers, farmers' markets, distributors, stores, restaurants and public officials who are developing a more sustainable food system for all.
Reviews
"Offers a celebration of those working to turn things around and make them right." - Seattle International Film Festival
"Couldn't be more timely! A film made to awaken our taste buds and our courage -- to create a food system aligned with what the earth needs and what our bodies yearn for. GOOD FOOD shows us it's possible. It's happening!" - Frances Moore Lappe, author, Diet for a Small Planet, Hope's Edge
"Exhilarating...Chronicles a veritable revolution going on all around us...This one is not out to scare us with an environmental horror story so much as to inspire us." - William Arnold, Seattle Post- Intelligencer
"A must-see...It boldly pulls the viewer into the extremely broad and complex landscape of organic food production. Incorporating health and economic impacts in an assessment of our methods of food production and consumption makes this film especially powerful." - Laura Skelton, Program Director, Facing the Future
"The film visits many of the pioneers in the movement to 're-localize' our food system and documents, first hand, the tremendous grassroots work that is being done here in the Northwest." - Mary Embleton, Executive Director, Cascade Harvest Coalition
"Not only does the film convey the ingenious methods of some of the sustainable producers, but it also shows innovative ways they are marketing their products to help sustain themselves as family farmers." - Maurice Robinette, Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network
"Captures the joy and creativity of the northwest's sustainable farming community, and the love they have for their work. It looks at the deep human connections created through food, both to other people and to the earth." - On Screen Magazine
"Makes the important personal connection between the source and your table." -21 Acres
"After watching this documentary you will be moved to cook and to eat well!" - Sound Food
"Excellent, straightforward...does an especially good job showing what the face of small farms and markets look like today." - Edible Seattle
Awards
Seattle International Film Festival
United Nations Association Film Festival, Stanford
American filmmaker, Craig Hinde, traveled to New Zealand to document the success story of a local organization of farmers, which has the acronym NOSLaM, who have become internationally certified as sound environmental managers of their farms. They have led the way in establishing this standard because they want every marketing advantage possible for their products. New Zealand farmers do not receive governmental subsidies, and ninety per cent of farm income comes from exports; thus they have put emphasis on environmental management, animal welfare, and food safety as a means of attracting world consumers. They believe that this, combined with their penchant for creating niche markets, will make them environmentally and economically sustainable.
Review
"The acronym NOSLaM stands for North Ortago Sustainable Land Management. North Ortago is a region on the southeast coast of New Zealand. The program objectively assesses the environmental impact of agricultural practices and provides proof of compliance, steps that would be prohibitively expensive for many individual farmers. Issues addressed include soil erosion, animal health, chemical herbicides and insecticides, and organic product certification." -EMR Online
Looks at the plight of apple growers in the age of globalization, and points the way to sustainable US agriculture.
Wenatchee, Washington, the "Apple Capital of the World"; this pastoral valley in the heart of the Northwest prospered for nearly a century as home to the famed Washington apple. But the good times have vanished. Apple orchardists by the thousands are going out of business and thousands more await the dreaded letter from the bank, announcing the end of their livelihoods and a uniquely American way of life.
After his own father receives just such a letter, filmmaker Guy Evans sets out on a journey to find out what went wrong here in this natural Garden of Eden. Over the course of filming, Evans witnesses small farmers struggling to compete against the Goliaths that populate today's global economy, only to be ultimately forced off their land. The future looks grim for the Apple Capital until Evans happens upon an entirely new breed of farmer, practitioners of a new model called "sustainable agriculture".
BROKEN LIMBS explores these hopeful stirrings within agriculture, outlining ways in which any individual can play a role in saving America's farmers.
Reviews
"Broken Limbs is a very accurate and moving description of what is happening to agriculture in America." - Fred Kirschenmann, Director, Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, organic farmer
Wenatchee, Washington, the "Apple Capital of the World"; this pastoral valley in the heart of the Northwest prospered for nearly a century as home to the famed Washington apple. But the good times have vanished. Apple orchardists by the thousands are going out of business and thousands more await the dreaded letter from the bank, announcing the end of their livelihoods and a uniquely American way of life.
After his own father receives just such a letter, filmmaker Guy Evans sets out on a journey to find out what went wrong here in this natural Garden of Eden. Over the course of filming, Evans witnesses small farmers struggling to compete against the Goliaths that populate today's global economy, only to be ultimately forced off their land. The future looks grim for the Apple Capital until Evans happens upon an entirely new breed of farmer, practitioners of a new model called "sustainable agriculture".
BROKEN LIMBS explores these hopeful stirrings within agriculture, outlining ways in which any individual can play a role in saving America's farmers.
Reviews
"Inspiring and powerful...[Broken Limbs] is cutting new ground in terms of where agriculture in this state, country and the world needs to go." - Rev. Paul Benz, Director, State Public Policy Office of Evangelical Lutheran Church
"Broken Limbs is a powerful film that, using humor and drama, gives viewers a lot to think about in this increasingly globalized world we live in...What works in this film is its intellectual honesty and the sense of hope that is its underlying message." - Rufus Woods, Editor and Publisher, The Wenatchee World
"Broken Limbs is a very accurate and moving description of what is happening to agriculture in America. Focused on apple growers in Washington State, the story reflects what is happening to hog producers in Iowa, citrus growers in Florida and dairy farmers in New York. The video offers a ray of hope---the "new farmers" who add value to their production and retain more of that value on the farm by producing the quality, attributes and services that a growing number of food customers want. A moving and compelling story." - Fred Kirschenmann, Ph.D., Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and a North Dakota grain and livestock farmer
"Broken Limbs is amazing, excellent, and on the mark...The entire group was enchanted by this film... the first half of "bad news" was terrifically and delightfully offset by the second half of the film which focuses on solutions and alternatives to traditional style farming." - Michelle Frain, The Rodale Institute
"Broken Limbs will break your heart with its images of the sad plight of the independent American farmer being forced off the land by the global economic machine. But then, it will begin to heal your heart with its stories of new small scale farmers who are living well, low to the ground with a vision of a sustainable agricultural future." - Sam Keen, filmmaker, author
"Broken Limbs can well serve to demonstrate that sustainable ag "socializes" responsibility in the food system among all participants, while industrial ag "socializes" environmental and community costs onto society but jealously retains responsibility only for financial rewards." - Brad Redlin, Center for Rural Affairs
"This insightful documentary works through how agriculture is changing. It's a personal story for filmmaker Guy Evans...[b]ut the film's concerns affect us all. When Evans begins his inquiry, he is pushed toward accepting as inevitable the trends that squeeze the small-to-mid-size farmers, leaving only the largest, most globalized and vertically integrated or, maybe, a few of the smallest, niche-market producers. Evans captures the waste and sorrow this entails...But as Evans keeps searching, he finds another trend that, with nurturing, may offer hope-sustainable agriculture. It requires we reformulate decision-making so that the overall, long-term quality of life, land, and food become the defining terms. This can only be done when the farmer and the consumer understand how they are connected to each other. Starting in Washington State, Evans has examples around him. Farmers markets and produce stands abound in the Seattle area and beyond. For much of the rest of the country, the trend has weaker roots fornow, but its where we should be heading." - Deborah Popper, Co-author of The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust, Associate Professor of Geography at CUNY's College of Staten Island
"This is a poetic, lyrical film with excellent visuals of the land, appropriate musical soundtrack, and soft voiced narration. Environmental studies, science, and current events classes can utilize this film and be challenged to live with hope for the future and believe that 'one by one we change the world.'" - Patricia Ann Owens, School Library Journal
"If you're looking for a video to provide background information and be the springboard for a group discussion about agricultural issues [Broken Limbs is] worth considering... I can imagine this video being shown to church classes or social justice groups and being the impetus for a church or home becoming the drop-off site for a CSA operation or meat producer." - Dana Jackson, The Land Stewardship Letter
"Provides a vivid example of how agribusiness and world trade practices have disasterously impacted family farming of apple orchards...[a] strongly recommended addition to school, college, and community library collections." - Midwest Book Review
"The production elements of Broken Limbs are excellent. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in agriculture. Broken Limbs presents a refreshing look at ways that farmers can survive and even thrive without becoming bogged down in discussing the often depressing outlook for the future of the family farm." - Educational Media Reviews Online
Awards
The Chris Statuette, Columbus International Film & Video Festival
This video presents 4 case studies of sustainable agriculture. Whole form planning: inputs, outputs, erosion control, soil management, tree planting, water management, and salinity control. Land care: communities banding together. Permaculture. Inner city gardens.
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Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
Witness an entire nation transforming its agriculture using organic techniques. The Greening of Cuba profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture, based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported machinery and agro-chemicals. When trade relations with the socialist bloc collapsed in 1990, Cuba lost 80% of its pesticide and fertilizer imports and half of its petroleum - the mainstays of its highly industrialized agriculture.
Challenged with growing food for 11 million people in the face of the continuing U.S. embargo, Cuba embarked on the largest conversion to organic farming ever attempted. The Greening of Cuba is told in the voices of the campesinos, researchers, and organic gardeners who are leading the organic agriculture movement.
This moving video reminds us that entire nations can choose a healthier environment and still feed their people.
Review
"The Greening of Cuba is a testament to the spirit of the Cuban people, and is of interest to farmers, gardeners, and all those who care about the future of the earth and of humankind. It celebrates the unbending will, creative ingenuity, and infectious spirit of the Cubanos, and the strength of their resistance.
This video shows that...Cubans undertook the largest conversion to organic agriculture ever attempted, and they have carried it with remarkable success...The Greening of Cuba allows farmers, young people, agronomists, urban gardeners, oxen-handlers and campesinos in the countryside to tell us in their own words (and music) and to show us how thy accomplished this...This video is a valuable tool for engaging people in the dialogue and struggle, and in sparking our imaginations and warming our hearts to find solutions." - Avon Leekley, Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education
DVD (Region 1, Spanish with English subtitles) / 1996 / (Grades 10-Adult) / 38 minutes
While inefficient agricultural methods are destroying much of the world's rainforests, the Lacandon Maya of Chiapas in southern Mexico have been practicing a sustainable form of rainforest farming for centuries. Dr. James Nations, an ecological anthropologist, has worked with the Lacandones for many years. In Good Hands follows Nations as he interacts with three Lacandon elders who show how they farm in the forests.
The video also examines how culture, mythology and religion influence their agricultural methods. The Lacandon approach to farming provides the basis for developing a practical alternative to destructive rain forest farming. However, only a few families still practice these ancient methods, as modernization and civil strife threaten their traditional way of life.
Review
"This beautifully shot, personal production pleads for respect for the Lacandon ways. Recommended." - Booklist (ALA)
Awards
Cine Golden Eagle Award-Silver Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival
Second Place, International Wildlife Film Festival (Native Category)
Farmers look at soil fertility and how to achieve it. Sections include manure management, crop rotations, cover crops, green manures, weed control methods and pest management systems.
Faced with consumer pressure, narrow profit margins and a shrinking arsenal of pesticides, these apple growers have turned to IPM practices to battle one of the most difficult apple pest complexes in the world. Apple maggot, leaf roller, codling moth and plum curculio controls are examined, as well as treatments for diseases like apple scab.
For many growers, the first step toward lower pesticide use is the practice of Integrated Pest Management. This method stresses the use of chemicals only as a last resort. Farmers illustrate ways to limit sprays by close monitoring of pest populations and by finding cultural and biological alternatives to pesticides.
Intensive grazing systems make efficient, inexpensive use of pastures and offer dairy, beef, and sheep farmers a way to lower costs and thereby stay in business. Some farmers combine rotational grazing with feeding grain. Others rely exclusively on pasture and do not feel the need to devote time, money, equipment or chemicals to grow field crops
The growers in this video have responded to the increasing demand by consumers for safe, high quality food. Many grow vegetables organically. They also emphasize soil fertility and describe ways to achieve it with manure, composting systems, crop rotations, cover crops and green manure. Weed and insect control strategies are also discussed.
Part 1 begins with a video presentation by Marti Ranky, BS, RD (Registered Dietitian), Ridgewood, NJ, USA on what is organic vs. conventional farming through the application process of how to become an organic farmer in six steps. Then she discusses the differences between organic and non-organic produce with several practical examples. The benefits of organic food considering, nutrition, pesticide levels, taste, environmental impacts, humane considerations and price are also examined.
Part 1, and Part 2 carries on with an exciting visit to the First Hungarian Cooperative For Organic Farming, in Hungary, Europe. Geza Varga, BS, MS, Co-founder of Galgafarm, based on his 20+ years experience explains their solutions to sustainable, green, organic farming, living and building. During the discussion with Dr. Ranky, parts of the working Galgafarm are visited, including the animal farm, some of the fields, as well as the eco-village. Some traditional sustainable green fabrication methods are demonstrated in detail in buildings under construction, as well as finished family homes are visited.