Farmsteaders:
The New Generation of Family Farming
The New Generation of Family Farming
by Paulette Reynolds * September 1, 2019
POV / PBS
Director: Shaena Mallett
Cinematographer: Shaena Mallett
Producer: Chad A. Stevens
Editor: Kelly Creedon
Director: Shaena Mallett
Cinematographer: Shaena Mallett
Producer: Chad A. Stevens
Editor: Kelly Creedon
Every once in a while, there will be a Twitter rant about Big Farma - you know, the huge farms that get funded by Monstanto and the government. The social media buzz will include photos of abused animals and how our diet is tainted with genetically altered food products. Big, impersonal farms, growing corn and soy beans to satisfy the political lobbyists, who are in turn paid by mega corporations to regulate just what goes into our bodies.
And inevitably, someone will post an Americana style picture of a sunset, a small farm with rows of growing green stuff, and Mom and Pop on the porch. Ah, the good old days of family farming...right?
And inevitably, someone will post an Americana style picture of a sunset, a small farm with rows of growing green stuff, and Mom and Pop on the porch. Ah, the good old days of family farming...right?
Today, the Nolan family farm doesn't look like much, and their food source is cows and cheese, but every once in a while, that sunset sure does look pretty. Yes - there are some farmers who still work the land - just ask Nick and Celeste Nolan of Gallipolis, Ohio. They're leaner than Mom and Pop, and wear exhausted smiles, but their devotion to each other, their four children and the dairy farm they run - Laurel Valley Creamery - is rock-solid.
Farmsteaders is a small film with a big heart, thanks to the efforts of director and cinematographer Shaena Mallett. Her camera follows the family around for five years, as they work to raise cows and create artisan cheese (Ten varieties at last count). Their days, nights and wee hours of early mornings are teeming with chores, child care and still more chores. Somehow they manage to snatch a few precious family moments, and even get the rare night out on the town.
Farmsteaders is a small film with a big heart, thanks to the efforts of director and cinematographer Shaena Mallett. Her camera follows the family around for five years, as they work to raise cows and create artisan cheese (Ten varieties at last count). Their days, nights and wee hours of early mornings are teeming with chores, child care and still more chores. Somehow they manage to snatch a few precious family moments, and even get the rare night out on the town.
“We are maintaining and developing relationships with our customers (both retail and chefs), learning and putting to use cheese making skills, developing recipes, and washing dishes. We also spend time caring for our aging cheese, stretching mozzarella, cutting, packaging, and labeling cheese. Plus, cleaning and record keeping.
Across the road we are mostly milking, but also fixing and building fence, cutting firewood, caring for calves, feeding pigs, keeping records, cleaning, planning, and fixing what seems like everything.” *
Across the road we are mostly milking, but also fixing and building fence, cutting firewood, caring for calves, feeding pigs, keeping records, cleaning, planning, and fixing what seems like everything.” *
Like those sunsets, the Nolans simple love of the land runs deep, shining brightly as they recount what lead them to take up the family farm after Nick's father died in a tragic accident. Mallett's lens reflects an affectionate intimacy, and here is the greatest strength of Farmsteaders. She records the ebb and flow of their lives with such a delicate touch one forgets there's a documentary process even going on.
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If there’s a claustrophobic feeling that creep in towards the end of the fifth year, it may just be the nature of farming itself. The unrelenting focus on this small farm does raise some questions: Where are the other farms? Does their relationship with their neighbors extend beyond the annual fair? The children never seem to be struggling with schoolwork, and when Celeste breaks down from exhaustion I wondered about such mundane solutions as hiring part-time help.
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Farmsteaders is also an ode to independent filmmaking, part documentary and part reality television. By the end of this sparkling gem, we care about a family that we’ve never met, farming the land without government intrusion and raising their children to love a simpler way of life, too.
Americana 2019 never felt so good.
Americana 2019 never felt so good.
*Quote from the Laurel Valley Creamery Dairy Farm website.
https://www.laurelvalleycreamery.com
COPYRIGHT 2012/2019. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
