REVIEW: ‘Farmageddon’ unearths the plight of small farmers

Kristin Canty’s compelling new documentary, Farmageddon, serves as both a warning and rallying cry. The director looks at the difficulties faced by small farmers in the United States when they try to sell their products, including raw milk, to an ever-consuming public.

And the obstacles these farmers face are sometimes unbelievable.

Many of the images in the film are downright scary, including government officials, guns drawn, cracking down on families who are selling vegetables and fruits, and the extermination of healthy sheep from a pastoral Vermont setting.

Why the apparent hysteria on the part of the United States Department of Agriculture and other governmental agencies? Canty and many of the subjects she interviews in the film seem to think that large agro-business is forcing the government suits to crack down. The USDA, which didn’t offer any comment for the film, and other state government agencies would likely say they’re working in the public interest.

Whatever the motives of these crackdowns brought to life by Canty’s lens, there is no denying that these images feel patently un-American. In a land espousing freedom and the right to commerce, some farmers have a needlessly uphill battle, from expensive fees to tons of paperwork to unfair retribution.

Admittedly, the idea of consuming raw milk is an uneasy one for many people. The pasteurization process has historically been seen a necessary one, and fear of a whole host of diseases will likely never make the product a mainstream household item.

But should farmers have the right to sell raw milk? According to Canty, the pure liquid helped her son with his allergies, and many of the farmers interviewed in the film champion the good bacterias that are lost in the pasteurization process.

Canty’s film, which is billed as a look into the unseen war on small farmers, becomes enamored of this raw milk question. So much so that the documentary loses some of its focus. When farmers talk about losing their imported sheep out of fears of domestic mad cow disease, it’s tough to connect the dots with other farmers featured in the documentary who are selling raw milk. A finer focus could have helped sell the central idea behind the thesis: Some of the government’s practices toward small farmers are scary, potentially unconstitutional and certainly excessive.

Canty, a first-time filmmaker who was recently interviewed by Hollywood Soapbox (click here), lets her motherly senses spill over into the film. Her calming voiceover and story about her son’s difficulties set the scene just right. The story of the American farmer is the story of America, and it affects everyone, whether or not they eat organic products and drink raw milk.

Her warnings may be too varied to feel cohesive, but her rallying cry is heard loud and clear. Forget about the economic plight of the American farmer. Forget about the nutritional advantages of raw milk. Forget about the USDA’s alleged Draconian efforts to prop up large agro-business.

In the end, the problem is very basic to identify: America’s food source needs to be properly supported, with a holistic plan that acknowledges the merits of small, local farms.

After all, you are what you eat, and most Americans probably don’t know what they eat.

• Farmageddon

• 2011

• Directed by Kristin Canty

• Running time: 90 minutes

• Bubble score: 3.5 out of 4

• Click here to read Hollywood Soapbox’s interview with Canty.

• Click here to learn more about the documentary.