February 22,
2005: Organic agriculture plays the hero in
a new documentary film about Illinois farmer John Peterson
and the evolution of family farming over the last fifty
years. The Slamdance Film Festival audience award winner
for best documentary feature, The Real Dirt on Farmer
John is a colorful story of a traditional Midwestern
farm run by a rather untraditional farmer.
John Peterson, head farmer at Angelic Organics, a 1200-member
biodynamic CSA outside of Chicago, has lived through the
highs and lows of the farm movement. Using a combination
of new footage, home movies and photographs, director
Taggart Siegel chronicles Peterson’s and the farm’s
many transformations over the decades.
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"“Like a drug,
the land can lure a person into destitution. The
land can embolden, exhaust and ennoble.”
—John Peterson, Farmer |
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What begins as a poultry and dairy farm during Peterson’s
childhood evolves along with Peterson and the meaning
of farming in America-- the tragic suicide of his uncle
coincides with the initial decline of the family farm
during the late 1950s; his father’s farm expands
along with the rest of the farms in America during the
early '60s; passed to Peterson in the late '60s, it
becomes an idyllic farmer-artist commune; then, as was
the trend during the farm debt crisis of the 1980s,
it is auctioned off piece by piece.
While most of the journey is tragic--death and death
threats, loss and depression mar the first 40 years
of Peterson’s life, by the millennium the future
looks bright and sunny in Caledonia, Illinois. After
an extended tour of Mexico, Peterson returns to the
farm with a renewed spirit and a desire to heal himself
and the soil through organic agriculture. But, as Peterson
learns, organic agriculture is not easy and as the insects
gnaw away at his crops they also devour his spirit.
Things once again look grim until a group of consumers
from Chicago ask Peterson to grow the organic produce
they are unable to find in their grocery stores. The
result is the birth of the Angelic Organics’ CSA,
now one of the largest CSAs in the United States, and
the rebirth of the farm--removed from isolation and
infused with the spirit of community. Ending frames
are filled with the enthusiasm of children, volunteers,
interns and members yearning for a deeper connection
to their food.
Well crafted and entertaining, the film is generating
both agricultural and mainstream fans. Mark Achbar,
director of The Corporation, calls the film, “A
deeply moving metaphor for the struggles of a generation.”
CR Lawn of the Farm Advocate says, “Far more than
the story of one beleaguered farmer, it is a riveting
dramatic allegory about human nature and the nature
of our society.”
The Real Dirt is not simply about farming, it is also
about fighting the stereotypes that strangle it.
“My goal is to challenge preconceived notions
about farms and farmers; to inspire audiences by a tale
of tenacity; and to challenge viewers to examine more
closely their prejudices and judgments about others,”
Taggert writes in the Director’s Statement.
The flamboyant, yet successful Farmer John Peterson,
with his sequined costumes and effeminate mannerisms,
is certainly up to the challenge. Peterson and his merry-band
of CSA supporters will have you rethinking every notion
you ever had about what a farmer and a farm should look
like.
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