Relish

“Celebrate the Farmer!” Mark Bittman, writing for the New York Times, urged readers to do so back in August. Echoing Bittman’s sentiments is Graham Meriwether, documentary journalist and filmmaker, who was in St. Louis last night with his film American Meat, a pro-farmer look at meat production. Shown at Washington University, the film not only celebrates American grass-based farmers but conventional farmers as well. And that’s the beauty of Meriwether’s film: he manages to show a range of meat producers in America, from commodity hog farmers to self-proclaimed “Lunatic Farmer,” Joel Salatin, without making explicit judgments about who does what better.  No one is vilified; no one is glamorized. Just an honestly refreshing look at American meat production.      

The day before the screening, Meriwether spoke with us by phone en route to St. Louis. Although American Meat debuted in July of 2011, it is now making the rounds as part of the Young Farmers Screening Series. Our state is the first of ten in the series, which includes Washington, Virginia, California, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. Meriwether explained that he decided to kick off the tour in Missouri because of its central location and large agricultural presence. 

The film’s three goals—to thank America’s farmers, to support young farmers, and to educate consumers about how their food choices support agriculture—helped shape the tour’s dates, which are planned around both agricultural and academic calendars; the tour runs through the fall semester, and then picks up again in February, ending in April. Meriwether anticipates that more farmers can make the screenings in February, which is typically a downtime for many.   

Meriwether also stressed that he wanted to screen the film first to groups of young people and farmers before its theatrical release in April of 2013 (the DVD release will follow in May, 2013 for those who missed the screening at WashU). “It’s an exciting time to be a farmer,” Meriwether claimed, and he hopes that American Meat will produce not only conversations about farming but interest in the profession. Accordingly, the film’s web site showcases a “Meet Young Farmers” section containing short videos introducing a new generation of farmers across the nation. Since the average age of the American farmer is 57, it’s critical for young people to get involved now.

At last night’s screening, a panel discussion followed the film, wherein participants discussed challenges facing today’s farmers. Panelists included two cattle farmers, Heidi Ridder, from Falling Timber Farm, in Marthasville, MO, and Peter Whisnant, the president of Rain Crow Ranch, in Doniphan, MO. Both young farmers emphasized that the rising costs of fuel, land, and feed remain ongoing challenges for farmers. As members of family-owned farms, both Ridder and Whisnant also resembled a number of the young farmers interviewed in Meriwether’s film; over and over, older famers in the film expressed concern about whether or not their children would be able to continue in agriculture like them.

Whisnant’s participation in the evening extends far beyond his role as panelist: as part of the film’s screening, Washington University announced that it will source all of its beef for its dining services from Rain Crow Ranch, under the guidance of John Griffiths (left), Executive Chef of the university’s Dining Campus. Prior to the film, Griffiths and fellow dining services chefs served a BBQ buffet featuring Rain Crow’s beef. Audience participant Chris McKenzie from Mac’s Local Buys, a buying club for local meat, assured everyone during the Q&A session that Rain Crow is some of the best-tasting meat around. An added bonus for those concerned with animal welfare should note that Rain Crow’s cows are grass fed, organic, and Animal Welfare Approved.     

Other panelists included Griffiths, Meriwether, and Ray Massey, Ph.D., an extension professor at the University of Missouri, in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. While Massey gave advice relating to land acquisition in the county and beyond (“Google farmland trust,” he said), Griffiths acknowledged that “the whole reason we’re here is that there is a demand, an interest,” in knowing where one’s food originates. All panelists—from farmers, to filmmaker, to academic, to chef—emphasized the importance of outreach as one of the solutions to food-related problems facing our nation. One audience member asked if cheap commodity meat, and cheap food in general, are to blame for our nation’s obesity crisis. Whisnant agreed but said it also has to do with the sedentary lifestyles many lead, joking that anyone who spent a month on the ranch would be quickly whipped into shape.

Next up for Meriwether: Today, he and his crew will visit Todd Geisert, a fifth-generation farmer, at Geisert Farms. After the tour, he will continue working on two projects connected to Leave it Better, the non-profit foundation Meriwether founded. One, The reGeneration, a documentary about young people around the world who are growing food in community gardens. Two, Future Farmers of America, another documentary focusing on young farmers and the challenges they’re facing—the idea for which stemmed from both American Meat and the current Young Farmer Screening tour.  “Change the Landscape,” challenges one of the film’s segments; Meriwether appears to be doing just that, one documentary at a time.

Follow American Meat on Twitter at @AmericanMeat and like them on Facebook to stay up to date on future screenings and the film’s DVD release.