The Real Dirt On Farmer John. The Real Dirt On Farmer John. Review by Margaret Pomeranz. The Real Dirt on Farmer John is not as I originally anticipated, an agrarian comedy, but a documentary about the fascinating life of a North Illinois farmer John Peterson who narrates the film. THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN is an epic tale of a maverick Midwestern farmer. An outcast in his community, Farmer John bravely stands amidst a failing economy, vicious rumors, and violence. By melding the traditions of family. Critics Consensus: Ostensibly a bio about an eccentric farmer, The Real Dirt on Farmer John also doubles as a stirring exploration of man's common struggle with loss and prejudice. I saw this film at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and was blown away. The Real Dirt on Farmer John excels on both a technical and an emotional level. So many films, particularly documentaries, struggle to achieve. This documentary tells the story of one farm in Illinois and the man who was responsible for its evolution from a failing single-family farm into a lively and successful community farm. I didn't know what to expect from `The Real Dirt on Farmer John'. Knowing that America was once known as 'the bread basket of the world,' I knew this documentary would have some import, but I never realized that it. Taggart Siegel is an American documentary filmmaker. The Real Dirt on Farmer John: Director/Producer/DP: 2001: The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America: Director/Producer/DP. The epic tale of a maverick Midwestern farmer, THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN documents the dramatic failure of Farmer John's conventional farming operation and its resurrection into a thriving, organic Community. It also, not incidentally, an inspiring vision of the way forward for food production, a portrait of what Peterson calls 'a dead farm coming back to life'. After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, it may be just the antidote you need. Follows Farmer John’s astonishing journey from farm boy to counter-culture rebel to the son who almost lost the family farm to a beacon of today’s booming organic farming movement and founder of one of the nation’s. The Real Dirt on Farmer John, farmer, john, real, dirt, maverick, pariah, economy, arson, rumor, bastion, revolution, documentary, free, watch, online, download, movie, film, Teri Lang, Taggart Siegel. Fortunately, (how those old home movies are becoming valuable), John. He was demonised as a Satan worshipper by his neighbours because of his alternative stance. But what the film offers is the connection of John Peterson to the land that he inherited, his sense of duty, his sense of guilt and shame, his sense of recommitment, his love for his parents. I mean, it's fascinating in the way that this film has been made over such a long period of time. I mean, starting with the home movies and then Taggart had actually started filming John a long time ago. MARGARET: Yes. DAVID: And so you really feel you see the pattern of a man's life but in a documentary and because John wrote the narration and reads it himself, it adds very much to it. And I love the way that when things got really tough he'd sort of go off down to Mexico and sort of rejuvenate himself and then return. And he's a really lovely character. MARGARET: But it is the fact that he is constantly reinventing himself. DAVID: Yes. MARGARET: Against the history of the times in which he's living, you know? Yeah. MARGARET: But, you know, the hippy thing of the seventies when he first went to college. DAVID: Yeah. MARGARET: And he went to college locally so he could still work the farm and then, you know, that whole banks lending farms money thing and the crash of the rural economy and then, hey, don't you want to go out and buy organic vegetables now, David? DAVID: But there's also the relationship with his mother, which is beautiful in the film, I think. MARGARET: Yes. Yeah. DAVID: It's a lovely relationship. MARGARET: She's a lovely character too. DAVID: Yeah. In fact they're all lovely characters and it makes for a very unusual but really quite fascinating documentary. MARGARET: Well, particularly as I had never expected anything like that. DAVID: No. MARGARET: I knew nothing about the film when I saw it and it was such a pleasant surprise. DAVID: Al Gore recommends it. MARGARET: Oh, well, that's enough for me. The Real Dirttells the story of his turbulent but evolving relationship with his neighbors and his land, and with the farm legacy that he decided was worth preserving even when preservation required sweeping change. The film begins with John’s childhood, one of tractors and pitchforks and a rich family life. When his father died, a teenaged John took over the farm responsibilities and began to navigate the complexities of bad harvests, aging equipment and farm loans. He ran the farm even while attending college in a nearby town. A free spirit, but a hard worker, John did his best to keep the large farm alive in the face of rising costs and a severe shortage of farmhands. His best efforts were not enough and he was forced sell off most of the farm in 1. In the 1. 98. 0s, debt left many farmers landless and hopeless. John was no exception, and thinking about his family and friends magnified the disappointment he felt after the sale of the farm. Most of the farms in the area were consolidated soon after and the diminished community became bitter and intolerant. Bigger farms relying on bigger subsidies — this was the beginning of “modern” farming. Still, there was room for smaller operations if farmers were willing to be creative and brave their own paths. John decided to do just that and started farming organically under the name Angelic Organicson May 1, 1. It was an incredibly hard process. Where the farm had once grown four crops, John was now growing over thirty different crops — and he didn’t even know the names of all of them! When he started collaborating with a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Ggroup in Chicago, the farm really began to evolve. As people signed on to share in each season’s harvest, John began to see the immense possibilities in community- supported farming. John Peterson’s farm, once a difficult- to- run, single- family operation, is now a successful community project with hundreds of people willing to share in the challenges of growing organic food. The Real Dirtdoes a beautiful job of showing how the love and dedication of one man can combine with the hopes of so many others to preserve farmland and produce food that is healthful and delicious. Watch the trailer and visit the Angelic Organics website for more information on the farm and the documentary. Check out our review of the companion book to the movie, Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables.
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