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Novice farmers struggle in inspiring documentary

By: Randall King

Friday, May. 25, 2012 at 8:19 AM | Comments: 0

Orangeville Road Pictures Newbie farmer Wes Huyghe at Little Path Farm, Minnedosa.

Idealism meets reality in this documentary about five novice Canadian farmers.

But this film by Steve Suderman is not some exercise in Green Acres mockery. Suderman is himself from an agricultural family and witnessed (and made a film about) his family farm being sold. As such, he is on the side of the plucky ag angels whose effort to put down roots is as figurative as it is literal.

Of local interest is the film's lone wolf, Wes Huyghe, a self-admitted "rambler" who resolved to settle down, borrowing a piece of land -- Little Path Farm -- in the vicinity of his family farm in Minnedosa.

The film also follows the adventures of two Ontario couples who start their own organic farms.

They are at a distinct disadvantage as novices. Farming is an endeavour that takes years and even generations to learn. The learning curve is steep.

Also, the hours are long and the work is hard. And over the course of a year, obstacles are thrown up and problems are duly itemized, from a possible bacterial infection in sheep to a potato blight.

It might seem an exercise in masochism, but Suderman suggests that, in the face of huge conglomerates engaged in bottom-line "agribusiness," the tiny organic farm may be one of the last vestiges of authentic farmer spirit. Here, there is ingenuity, a love of the process, a true sense of animal husbandry, and a conviction that this is a pursuit that does the world some good.

The film's most significant failing is that Suderman fails to frame his quintet of farmers in the context of their past lives. We don't really have a sense of who they were before they took up what many might consider a quixotic pursuit.

But there is inspiration here anyway, as the film adds to a growing body of docs examining where our food comes from, and what it really costs.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

To Make a Farm

Directed by Steve Suderman

Cinematheque

74 minutes

3 stars out of five

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