Young Agrarians

Johanna Divine

Johanna Divine

More About Young Agrarians from Director Johanna Divine

Young Agrarians was created as a tool to introduce young people to a new way of looking at agriculture and food production. The project grew out of several concerns: the demise of family farms in America, the rising average age of farmers (65% of U.S. farmers are over 55), and the fact that young people are unaware of the many opportunities in sustainable agriculture and local food systems.

Shot during the spring and summer of 2003 on a road trip from Palmer, Alaska, to Tumacacori, Arizona, the film relates the stories of small-scale farmers, ranchers and market gardeners of all ages and backgrounds who have been drawn by their love for the land to undertake the most noble of occupations — growing food.

This film expresses both the aesthetic and ethic of small-scale, sustainable farming. America is home to the quintessential industrial farm model, featuring the lonely farmer perched atop multi-zillion dollar farm equipment spreading chemical fertilizers on a 10,000 acre farm. I wanted young people to see something new, to see other young people excited about reconnecting to their roots and to the agricultural history of America. The people in this film have found that growing food is something a little more community-minded, healthful, and reasonable in scale than the industrialized farming we are so aware of today. It is what Wendell Berry calls “the complex accomplishment of knowledge, cultural memory, skill, self-mastery, good sense and fundamental decency — the high and indispensable art — for which we probably can find no better name than ‘good farming.’”

The most rewarding aspect of production was the opportunity to get to know the individuals who opened their homes, farms, and fields to me. The energy of young people like Dove Miller from the Food for Lane County Youth Farm in Eugene, Oregon, who has since started college; and Kelly Humphry, a fourth generation family farmer from Illinois who moved to California to study organic agriculture and start her own farm is truly inspiring. Most of these folks are still working the same land, getting ready for another busy season. I wanted this film to encourage people to get to know where their food comes from and to support the good farmers who grow it.

FILMMAKER BIOS

Johanna Divine, Director/Producer

Johanna Divine is the director of Flagstaff Foodlink, Inc., a grassroots non-profit organization connecting people with healthy, regional food. In 2004, she was awarded a Food and Society Policy Fellowship, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to continue her community food and media work. Divine is committed to doing more than creating access to fresh, regional foods. She also shares her passion for sustainable agriculture and food security with area youth, serving as the founder and director of Flagstaff Youth Gardens, a summer employment program for local high school students. Divine also put her expertise to work helping develop the Flagstaff Community Farmers’ Market and C.A.K.E. — a shared-use community kitchen and business incubator serving Flagstaff’s low-income Southside neighborhood. Johanna is a member of the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council, Northern Arizona Food Policy Council, and Flagstaff Unified School District Health and Wellness Steering Committee. She is currently working with local teachers, students, and farmers to develop a healthy school food pilot program funded by the Arizona Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Flagstaff High School. Before settling in Arizona, she worked on organic farms from Florida to Alaska.