Sustainable the Documentary

Directed by Matt Wechsler and Annie Speicher

Summary:

From the film's website:
"A vital investigation of the economic and environmental instability of America’s food system, from the agricultural issues we face — soil loss, water depletion, climate change, pesticide use — to the community of leaders who are determined to fix it. Sustainable is a film about the land, the people who work it and what must be done to sustain it for future generations.

The narrative of the film focuses on Marty Travis, a seventh-generation farmer in central Illinois who watched his land and community fall victim to the pressures of big agribusiness. Determined to create a proud legacy for his son, Marty transforms his profitless wasteland and pioneers the sustainable food movement in Chicago"

Sustainable gives hope that not all is lost when it comes to agriculture.  While hundreds of millions of acres of land are being farmed in ways that depend greatly on massive external inputs and still degrade the land, there are more and more farmers realizing that they can can have profitable, diversified farms without those inputs and they're improving their soil as they do it.  

Where To Get It:

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Sustainable Food Film Website

Related Threads:

Permaculture, Sustainability, and Polyculture thead
What is Permaculture?
Sepp Holzer

Related Podcasts:
Keys to Building Healthy Soils pt. 1
Keys to Building Healthy Soils pt. 2
Mark Vander Meer on Soils

I give this film a 10 out of 10 acorns.

As of 3/18/17 this film is on Netflix if you have it - I highly encourage people to watch it!

Wow, what an inspiring film!  Instead of railing against what big agriculture is doing wrong without presenting any solutions, Sustainable shows a group of farmers who have found their solution and are more than happy to share it with everyone.  

The film mostly focuses on seventh generation farmer Marty Travis and the group of farmers that he works with to supply food to various restaraunts in Chicago.  What I personally liked the most about this film was the sense of peace you got from the various farmers in the film which seemed like such a contrast to the stressed out, almost haggard sense I get from my exposure to a lot of the 'conventional agriculture' guys.  While none of these farmers would deny that the life includes lots of hard work, you can see the joy in their eyes as they talk about the different things they are doing on the farm, about the amazingly nutritious and tasty food they are producing.  The resiliancy that these polyculture using farms have seems to allow the farmers to really enjoy their lives as stewards of the land.  Nowhere did I see that pained, stressed look that I see in conventional farmer's faces when they're worried that the commodity price might drop or that one disease is going to wipe out their entire crop.  

I believe that the farms featured in the film and others like them will provide a legacy of good food, increasing soil health, and profitable family enterprises vs. the big ag legacy of degraded soils, non-nutritious food, and ever growing debt cycles.  I can't wait to hear Paul do a podcast review! (hint hint)

I first watched this when it came out on Netflix and just watched it again now. This film, along with some others, should be required watching for all.

We try to grow as much as we can for the two of us, but do need to rely on others for much of our food. Where we can, we deal with others who are growing sustainably, but we also have to shop at local supermarkets. We always try to buy as much as we can that is organic or all-natural when we shop in the supermarket, but the prices can be outrageous, sometimes unaffordable for us, and I am always concerned about where the organic food has come from and how long ago it was harvested, or what does a certain brand consider all-natural. As John Stanton said in the film, "Cyanide is all-natural."

I am greatly amazed as I watch other shoppers or look in their carts. The amount of meats, cold cuts, processed and ready-made dinners, junk food, etc. most are buying overwhelms me. I see most of these items as poison and am aware that most folks buying them don't have a clue, are addicted to them, have lives that are too busy, and/or just don't care that they are slowly killing themselves and their families.

Most folks are destroying their health, and America is destroying it's soil, water and air through an industrialized system of growing, processing and distributing that was meant to improve the lives of Americans, but has miserably failed. More and more people are waking up to this. I only hope and pray that many more do and the reborn sustainable movement continues to grow.