Christine Anthony and Owen Masterson
Documentary, USA
Runtime 50 min.
It’s not just “Old MacDonald” on the farm anymore. There is a growing movement of young people who are setting aside their college diplomas and leaving the cities to take up an agrarian lifestyle in search of something more meaningful than a 9-5 desk job. GROW! takes a look at the brave new world of sustainable farming as seen through the eyes, hearts and minds of 20 young farmers. Filmed on 12 farms throughout the state of Georgia during an entire growing season, GROW! provides an insightful and honest look at this next generation of farmers.
Filmmakers Christine Anthony and Owen Masterson explain: “It all started because we like to eat… When we moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles in 2005 we had a hard time finding Farmers’ Markets where we could buy food fresh from the farms. Back then there wasn’t much demand for local food and not a lot of small organic and sustainable growers.
We teamed up with Georgia Organics, a great farmer advocacy non-profit and started photographing the farmers pro bono. Our goal was to help make the farmers into Rock Stars and put a face on farming. After a couple of years we got involved in filmmaking. GROW! is our first full length feature.
Our main hope for GROW! is to shine a light on this next generation of farmers and, by their example, encourage more young people across the U.S. to consider farming as a viable career option. The average age of a farmer is 57. Who will grow our food in the future?
One of the biggest challenges to young people who want to take up farming is access to land. We hope that after seeing GROW!, people who have land and resources will be inspired to offer opportunities to new growers.
Lastly, we hope that it will inspire others to make changes in their lives; the way they eat, shop and cook and think about where their food comes from and who grows it.”
Screening Saturday, November 11 at 1pm in the Al Whittle Theatre with the films Bacon Noir and Divine Pig.