Gaining Ground

While there are many documentaries about farmers struggling against all odds to grow sustainable, GMO-free, pesticide-free produce and grains for their own communities, few truly show the sweep of organic farming in various rural and urban situations, or make a case for sustainable farming as a class/racial/educational issue with transformative potential. Showcasing the experiences of Richmond, CA’s Urban Tilth farm (created by activists who were sick of the diabetes-baiting poor food options in their neighborhood), interwoven with scenes from a one-time dairy farm outside Portland, OR, and a grass seed farm in Oregon, filmmakers Elaine Velazquez and Barbara Bernstein’s Gaining Ground looks at common problems, ranging from a lack of knowledge about how to grow organic food, to the outrageous issue of GMO seeds used in industrial farming contaminating neighboring organic farms (which not only harms organic farmers, but they can find themselves sued by seed companies for royalties), to the specter of environmental catastrophe, such as the 2012 Chevron Richmond refinery fire that chemically altered Urban Tilth crops. In addition, organic farmers face a variety of social justice issues related to the simple but apparently commercially threatening impulse to feed humans nutritious food. A powerful documentary on a timely topic, this is highly recommended. [Note: an abridged, 58-minute version of the film is also available for $300.] Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)