$5 Billion. That is what the farmers say they sold in fruits and veggies in 2008. That is incredible. How many modern farmers argue that they can’t survive off of the income from producing fruits and veggies for local restaurants, grocery stores, and market patrons? Well not so fast! According to a new U.S.D.A survey [...]
Buy Fresh Buy Local Harvest Party
As I mentioned in a pervious post, two weeks ago Marieta and I were invited to the Buy Fresh Buy Local Harvest Party. Our invitation was on the condition I’d film it. I almost always say yes to requests to film something, but when a request comes with a delicious dinner there is no way [...]
Meet The Terpstras
By day I may be a blogger but by… day… I am also a hyper local news reporter at a non-profit educational news station in Oskaloosa, CRI. The first half of this year I shared the agriculture news beat. I was pretty excited to report on Ag stories as I felt pretty well versed in [...]
American Meat Returns to Des Moines
UPDATE: The event is !NOT! free, its $10 a person. Oops! Back in August Marieta and I attended a screening of the food documentary American Meat. A really interesting look at the way meat is produced in America both by modern farming means and organic methods. Before you click away don’t worry, this doesn’t go [...]
Farm Crawl Mini Documentary
Since moving back to Iowa in June of 2009 the best Iowa discovery we’ve had is the Farm Crawl. Eight independent farmers south of Knoxville who banded together to hold an event that allows the public to tour their farm and see how they produce their goods. Two of the farms on the tour we [...]
With Christmas only a day away I thought I would share with you the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received, and yes, it’s green related. I wont go on a big long rant, just a quick story and a video I shot last week.
Last year Marieta’s parents decided to erect a second round of wind turbines north of their town Jefferson, Iowa. In 2006 Marieta’s Father, Tom, and a group of others erected 7 turbines with the help of a corporate partner. Tom, being one of the most highly regarded wind power consultants in the nation, decided he wanted to give it another shot, without the help of a corporate partner. So last year he, along with his friend and some family members, decided to give it another crack. The Junction Hilltop Wind Farm was born. As part of the project Tom brought his children on as investors. So through Marieta, I am not partial owner of a wind turbine. How amazing is that?
Last week G.E. started erecting the new turbines, and of course, we drove up to the turbine site and shot some video. Take a watch, Tom gave us a guide tour and some really interesting insight into the Turbines.
$5 Billion. That is what the farmers say they sold in fruits and veggies in 2008. That is incredible.
How many modern farmers argue that they can’t survive off of the income from producing fruits and veggies for local restaurants, grocery stores, and market patrons? Well not so fast! According to a new U.S.D.A survey medium-sized farmers (grossing between $50,000 and $250,000) accounted for 17 of the local food sales in 2008 and they averaged $70,000 in sales. That’s pretty impressive.
NPR and Harvest Public Media are both discussing this survey today but to me they seem to be missing the truly astounding thing; if 2008 sales figures value the local food market at $5 billion, what do 2010 and 2011 figures equal? The last four years have seen a virtual explosion in local food interest. Every community has a farmers market it seems and local food documentaries and events are all over the place. I wouldn’t be surprised if a valuation of today’s local food revenue put the number around $6 or $7 Billion, and who knows, it might be as high as $10 Billion dollars. Whatever the figure, it should be obvious to everyone that the interest local food isn’t just a niche market, this movement has legs- and more importantly- wallets.
As I mentioned in a pervious post, two weeks ago Marieta and I were invited to the Buy Fresh Buy Local Harvest Party. Our invitation was on the condition I’d film it. I almost always say yes to requests to film something, but when a request comes with a delicious dinner there is no way I’m turning it down.
By day I may be a blogger but by… day… I am also a hyper local news reporter at a non-profit educational news station in Oskaloosa, CRI. The first half of this year I shared the agriculture news beat. I was pretty excited to report on Ag stories as I felt pretty well versed in sustainable farming but I knew very little about modern farming. Kind of funny considering I grew up in Iowa, the mecca of modern farming.
Throughout my time on the Ag beat I helped my friend and co-worker Jon Hoffmann find and report on Ag news. In July we did a story on Agritourism, the rising trend of consumers becoming interested in how their food is grown/raised. Through that story Jon met the Terpstras, a family of farmers who switched from corn and soy to diverse produce farming during the 1980s farm crisis.
After the story ran Jon kept in touched with the Terpstras and took his reporting one step further. On Tuesday the following profile piece will air as an episode of our human interest show Oskaloosa Today. Grab a warm drink, sit back and get to know the Terpstras.
I love learning about farmers who make the switch from corn and soy. Do you know of stories similar to the Terpstras?
UPDATE: The event is !NOT! free, its $10 a person. Oops!
Back in August Marieta and I attended a screening of the food documentary American Meat. A really interesting look at the way meat is produced in America both by modern farming means and organic methods.
Before you click away don’t worry, this doesn’t go the PETA route of non-stop graphic animal processing. American Meat is more like a peek at both sides of the fence. A look at why modern farmers do what they do and why organic farmers do it their way. Take a look at the trailer.
Overall I really enjoyed the film. It did what I’ve been wanting food documentaries to do; show both sides and show why people farm the way they do. Of course it does promote organic farming, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it has a prominent character (from Iowa [w00t!]) who has been a modern farmer his whole life and has started to dabble in organic farming. Also, American Meat is very solutions oriented, something I am very big on. Sure things are nasty but let’s focus on what people are doing to push back the ugliness. This film is loaded with sustainable farmers and it shows that you won’t go broke farming organically .
Now if I have any issue with the film it’s the use of Joel Salatin’s farm. Don’t get me wrong the guy is awesome, his farm is awesome, and I wish him all the success he can rake in. Still, how many films can feature this guy? I think this is the third major food documentary to explain why he does what he does. There are so many awesome farmers out there, give them some screen time. In fact, once the credits role you will probably be taken aback a little bit by how many sustainable farmers American Meat features. Why couldn’t any of them be the feature farm? Heck, I can think of 4 Iowa farms off the top of my head that could take Joel’s place.
That minor issue aside, it’s a really good film, and if you’re upset you missed the screening don’t worry, IT’S BACK! American Meat is returning to the Fleur theater THIS SUNDAY October 16 at 11:15am, AND! After the screening Director Graham Meriwether will host a discussion panel with Neil Hamilton, a professor of agriculture law at Drake University and a one-time advisor to President Obama on food and agriculture; Gary Huber, Iowa Food Coop; Matt Russell, Buy Fresh Buy Local. Oh and leave your wallet at home… IT’S FREE!. I don’t see any reason why you can’t check it out.
So I’ve seen a LOT of sustainable food documentaries, American Meat isn’t my favorite, but it was good. What sustainable food documentary is your favorite?
Since moving back to Iowa in June of 2009 the best Iowa discovery we’ve had is the Farm Crawl. Eight independent farmers south of Knoxville who banded together to hold an event that allows the public to tour their farm and see how they produce their goods. Two of the farms on the tour we hold on our personal Mount Rushmore of local Iowa food, Coyote Run Farm and Blue Gate Farm, and a few others we are regular patrons of.
In 2009 Marieta mentioned the event to me and I forgot about it -as guys so often do- until the day of. I wasn’t super excited about it because it was a drive, it was a little bit of an overcast day and football was in full swing… lucky for me though, we went. As soon as I got onto Coyote Run Farm’s land I was in love and I think it had something to do with these guys…
With that, I was hooked for life. For the 2010 Farm Crawl I brought an HD camera, I interviewed the farmers about their practices, and I shot all kinds of b-roll footage to put together a mini documentary on the event. After a year of sitting on my hands, waiting for the 2011 Farm Crawl, I finally debuted my work a couple weeks ago, simply titled “Farm Crawl.”
Of course the 2011 Farm Crawl has past and yes I did go and shoot more interviews, but you’ll probably have to wait 10 months or so to see exactly what I have planned
Have you gone on the Farm Crawl? If so, Leave me a comment, tell me your favorite part and what you think of my Farm Crawl video.
This past Downtown Farmers Market Matt Russell of Coyote Run Farm surprised Marieta and I with an invite to the Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh Buy Local Harvest Dinner. We immediately accepted but the invitation came with one caveat; we’d have to video the event. ARE YOU KIDDING? That’s what I live for. While I don’t have that video ready to publish, I do have a few teaser pictures.
A big thank you goes out to my sister Megan for taking a few pictures at the event. We had an absolutely awesome time getting to know the farmers and supporters of Buy Fresh Buy Local Iowa. Keep your eyes peeled for my forthcoming video from the event.
December 24th, 2011 
Patrick 
