Tonight various outgrowths of the local farm movement are interfacing to present the second film in a series called the Up, Up! Farm Film Festival, which presents independent films that focus on food systems. The festival was created by the Greenhorns, a nonprofit based out of Essex, New York, made up of young farmers and supporters who promote farming in younger generations.
The showing tonight, To Make a Farm, which documents five young, small-scale farmers and presents a hopeful future for agriculture, gets going at 6 at the Trolley Stop Market, 704 Madison, in the Edge district.
Christian Brothers University food justice professor Emily Holmes was approached last year by local farmer Brandon Pugh, of Delta Sol Farm in Proctor, Arkansas, about cosponsoring the festival, and later the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market got on board to bring the series to the Mid-South.
The first showing was held Jan. 19th at CBU and included The Sharecroppers, a short documentary covering the challenges of chicken farming in Arkansas and Louisiana, and American Meat, documenting both traditional confinement methods as well as the sustainable, pasture-raised method of raising animals in the meat industry.
The festival will present five more showings through the months of February, March, and April, wrapping up the series on April 19th at CBU during Earth Week with two shorts, including Sourlands, which covers the ecological challenges farmers in Sourlands, New Jersey, are facing.
A complete list of showings can be found at https://www.facebook.com/UpUpFarmFilmFestival/.
Up, Up! Farm Film Festival
“The festival is a series of independent films that explore sustainable farming, land access, and the relationship of people to place,” Holmes said. “The primary goal is to raise awareness of the value of our local farmers and their important contributions to our economy, our landscape, our culture, and of course, our meals. We should all know where our food comes from and what kind of labor goes into its production.
“Farming isn’t easy, especially when it’s done in a labor-intensive, environmentally sustainable way. So one goal of the festival is educational, while another is to encourage support of our local farmers. One way of doing that directly is by shopping at a local farmers market, such as the CYCFM,” Holmes said.
All films are free and open to the public.
For more information about the Greenhorns, visit thegreenhorns.net.
