I subscribe to the NE Food mailing list (nefood@elist.tufts.edu) for those with an interest in food and agriculture in the NE region. Recently, there was an active conversation started by one person looking for "Good films on food, farming, gardening.” I found it so useful that I compiled the resources and individuals films mentioned, in case anyone else is interested in eating or growing good, agricultural systems and economics.
Phil Howard (at Michigan State) maintains a great database of food-related media, with many films from the last 15 years:
https://creator.zoho.com/howardp/books-and-films/view-embed/CFA_books_and_films_View/
Educational Materials List from Cornell
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/c.php?g=31298&p=199454/home#s-lg-box-611592
"The Garden" is a story that incorporated gardening, food, race and class: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1252486/
"Can You Dig This?" a documentary about "Ron Finley and LA urban ag, produced by musician John Legend. The film explores urban gardening in South Central Los Angeles, what Finley calls one of the largest food ‘prisons' in the country. The film follows Finley and the inspirational personal journeys of four other ‘gangster gardeners,’ all planting the seeds for a better life." http://canyoudigthisfilm.com "Real Food Media hosts short film competitions annually. These 5-10 minute films focus on issues in the food system, and are made available on their website." realfoodmedia.org "A new 6-part series coming out soon on Vermont PBS is The Local Motive. If you're interested in learning more, there's more info here": http://vermontpbs.org/localmotive "You can also check out KNOW YOUR FOOD, a series of short films for PBS, which also comes with discussion guides." http://www.pbs.org/show/lexicon-sustainability/episodes/ "Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution" (2008), [subtitled]; "about a farming town, in France, that officially embraced organic agriculture. The best parts are about the kids programs in the schools. The saddest parts are people talking about how they poisoned themselves and families by spraying pesticides. The coolest scene, compares the soil-structures at the edge where an organic farm borders on a commercial farm. The downside of watching this film, is that you'll want to move to this town, immediately." http://firstrunfeatures.com/foodbewaredvd.html "Portrait of a Garden", from Holland; "which I haven't seen, but looks beautiful, and philosophical; and that I was hoping would come to a local theater, so I could watch it on a big screen--but no such luck, yet. However, I believe you can buy and watch it, on-line." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FGWYU6TKLc "Edwardian Farm" (2010); "is one of these historical-reality shows, in which we get the fun of watching people like ourselves--except, they're historians and archaeologists--submitting themselves to living under the conditions of 100+ years ago. They move into this old farm--a dirty, empty ruin--and bring it back to life. Each episode involves specific aspects of the traditional farm lifestyle; and, they bring in experts to advise them. So, they have this real farmer, looking at their fields, and advising them about crops; etc. Apparently, England supports people to keep the old crafts alive. You see how to rejuvenate a neglected hedgerow; how to build a hayrick to store your hay outdoors in a way that it won't rot; etc." http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w15jc SEED: The Untold Story https://www.facebook.com/seedtheuntoldstory/ Kombit: the Cooperative, http://www.kombitfilm.com/ about sustainable farming in Haiti to address the deforestation problems. "My students just love Just Eat it: A Food Waste Movie by Peg Leg Films. Though you should make clear to students that you aren’t advocating dumpster diving. Very dangerous!" http://www.foodwastemovie.com For those who want to relate planting a seed in a garden to building a political future of justice and equality Grace Lee Boggs’ work in Detroit is extremely useful. My notes on her book The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century are at hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/… As the saying goes, you can fix all the world’s problems in a garden: solarray.blogspot.com/...