I am one of them. I grew up on a homestead in rural Ohio, the heartland of America – a kid of homesteaders, reinventing their suburban lives: raising hogs, growing heirloom tomatoes, defying the expectations. As I transitioned into adolescence, I watched as one after another our neighboring farms were forced to sell. The land grew fallow until it was either completely forgotten or turned into sprawling suburbs, full of cheaply built houses, with cupboards and refrigerators full of cheaply made food. It crushed something in me. My twenties were a spiritual quest to document humanity’s entangled relationship to the land.

When I began filming the Nolans in 2011, it felt like home. As the project developed, I made a conscious choice to continue filming solo to maintain a quiet, unobtrusive presence with the Nolan family. This approach allowed me to film the intimate, unguarded moments: Nick sick in bed, Celeste crying as she reaches her breaking point, the kids lost in their play and wonder. Throughout filming, they knew that I understood the weight of the struggles, as well as the bliss in between. With ease, we talked farming and factories, beauty and loss. They trusted me to understand and to translate the nuances of their lifestyle, their sacred relationship to the land, and their Sisyphean effort to survive as a small sustainable farm in today’s corporate climate.

Only one percent of Americans are farmers. Our food industry is largely insidious and unethical, built as an extractive industry chock full of human, animal and environmental rights issues. Many Americans are nostalgic for the farms that live in their childhood memories but are unaware of how tenuous our food system actually is. Layer that misunderstanding of rural America on top of our current political climate, and you end up with an uninformed and narrow view of the majority of the country. This story is the antithesis of the exhausted “Trump country” narrative. Nick and Celeste’s meditations on life, legacy, and resistance offer an unexpected voice at a time when the country is so deeply divided. With much of the current rift falling along demographic lines, there is an escalating clash between the two Americas. And yet here this family stands in contrast to all of our expectations – heroic, benign, accessible.

This is a story about my home as much as theirs. And it’s the story of many Americans straining against the ebb and flow of an uncertain economic system. I made this film to exalt the farmer, to challenge the stereotype, to celebrate the working class hero – the one who fights for sovereignty of labor and mind.

Sheana Mallett, Director

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use Farmsteaders to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit

http://www.pbs.org/pov/engage/events/

Filmed over five years, Farmsteaders is a story of contemporary rural America. Nick Nolan, his wife Celeste, and their young family are on a journey to resurrect his grandfather’s dairy farm – fighting to keep it from “drying up and blowing away,” something that has happened to about 4.7 million farms in the U.S. as the pressures of corporate-driven food have left deep scars in the region.

Nick and Celeste’s meditations on life, legacy, and resistance offer an unexpected and accessible voice. Pointed at the beauty and hardship of everyday life, theirs is a tender and loving lens. For the Nolans only three things remain certain: family is everything, nothing ever stays the same, and the land holds it all together. They struggle daily to balance fears and hopes when it seems that so much is always at stake. With grit and determination, they show that life in America’s heartland really is about heart.

Key Participants:

Nick and Celeste Nolan, and their children Edgar, Gus, Lilah, and Harlan

Key Issues:

Farmsteaders is an excellent tool for outreach and will be of special interest to people who want to explore the following topics:

dairy farming

family farms

farm kids

farm policy

food security and food deserts

“big agriculture” versus small sustainable farms

farm-to-table / locavore movement

grit / resilience

rural America

Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen. Or pose a general question (examples below) and give people some time to jot down or think about their answers before opening the discussion:

If you were going to tell a friend about this film, what would you say?

Describe a moment or scene in the film that you found particularly disturbing or moving. What was it about that scene that was especially compelling for you?

Did anything in the film surprise you? Was anything familiar?

If you could ask Nolan, Celeste, or the kids a single question, what would you want to know?

The average American is three generations removed from the farm. Do you have a generational connection to farming in your family? If so, how has that connection impacted your life?

How did the portrait of farm life in the film compare to your own experiences or your image of farm life? In what ways did the Nolan farm affirm or contradict your ideas about farm life? What did you learn about farms or farming that you didn’t know before viewing the film?

American lore sometimes romanticizes farm life. Did the film offer any insight about why that vision persists, even when the reality of daily farm routines isn’t exactly idyllic?

Celeste explains, “The definition of farmstead for us is trying to live within the resources that you have. The farmstead is where everything happens, where your life happens. All of the joys, all of the sorrows, for me it all happens right here on this 110 acres.” How does this compare/contrast to urban or suburban life?

Like many area small farmers, the Nolans have a booth at Bob Evans’ “folksy” outdoor market that draws 30,000 people and lots of tourists. How does the market help shape Bob Evans’ corporate image? How does it benefit area small farms?

Nick compares farming to gambling because it requires you to put “everything you got on the line when you go out there every day.” What sorts of pressures does that put on the family and how do they cope?

Celeste both appreciates and questions the area’s large agribusiness: “Bob Evans, the real Bob Evans, he farmed and you know, built a local business. But then they were a corporation.” What does the shift from farm to corporation mean to family farmers like the Nolans?

Celeste loves the hands-on process of making cheese, describing it as “magic.” She says, “I like the quiet and the repetitiveness. But you do it everyday…[the] magic wears off.” Are there things you once loved but that lost their luster through repetition? Can you think of ways to reclaim the “magic?”

Though they work incredibly hard, the Nolans always seem to be in a financially precarious position. How do they cope with that frustration? Can you think of any structural changes or policies that could provide them with financial security while still allowing them to operate their small, independent farm?

Nick’s grandfather died in a tractor accident. What do you know about the dangers of farming or the frequency of farming injuries or deaths? How might issues like healthcare and rural broadband relate to safety improvements?

A fire closes Celeste’s largest cheese customer. How do independent businesses (like Jackie O’s) sustain family farms? What do you think might happen if independent restaurants were all undercut by national chains?

Celeste says, “You have to make your happiness with what you’re doing every day. You have to build in that--that joy.” How do the Nolans build joy into their lives? How do/could you?

Nick suggests, “Whenever somewhere has a hold of you, that’s kind of a powerful thing. It’s like when you’re in love with somebody, and this place has a hold on me like that.” Have you ever felt drawn to a particular place? How do you explain the bond you feel with the land?

Celeste appreciates that “so many people that have raised their family here for hundreds and thousands of years. I imagine that they worried about the same things I do.” What sorts of things top the list of concerns? What connects the Nolans to their predecessors besides worries?

Nick says, “If I can do what my grandfather did, build this farm up and stay on it and raise a family like he did then I’d be a success.” How does this compare with your own definition of success?

Celeste says, “I never thought I would be a farmer. When we moved here I’d never been to a dairy farm. When we got cows and started milking that kind of gave me confidence in myself that I could do something that was hard.” In your view, what do people learn about themselves from meeting the daily challenges of life on a farm? Where do you have opportunities to learn those things?

Nick references Nietzsche: “Man tries to organize the chaos that he lives around.” How does this apply to his life?

Are the sorts of activities that the Nolan children are permitted or required to do common in your neighborhood? How does parenting on the farm differ from so-called “helicopter” or “tiger” parenting? What are the benefits and drawbacks to experiencing childhood on a family farm?

Celeste notices Lilah “playing” with the flour and challenges her to think through what might happen if she continues. Why do you think she initiates this conversation rather than just demanding that Lilah stop?

What was your reaction to Celeste indicating to Edgar that it was okay to insult his younger brother, but not okay to do it by calling him a “girl”?

Nick ponders, “My grandparents taught me all the skills, and I watched them dairy farm. And really, it wasn’t what my grandfather wanted me to do… He knew the sacrifices you had to make and the hardship and probably wanted something else for me. It kind of makes me think, what do I want for my kids? Do I want them to have the same struggle?” Based on what you see in the film, would you encourage or discourage young people interested in family farming? What factors did you consider in your decision?

At the end of your discussion, to help people synthesize what they’ve experienced and move the focus from dialogue to action steps, you may want to choose one of these questions:

Now that you’ve seen the whole film, why do you think the filmmaker began with this Wendell Berry quote: “Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than can be told.” What stories remain to be told?

What did you learn from this film that you wish everyone knew? What would change if everyone knew it?

If you could require one person (or one group) to view this film, who would it be? What do you hope their main takeaway would be?

This story is important because ___________.

What question(s) do you think the filmmaker was trying to answer? Do you think she found the answers she was looking for?

Complete this sentence: I am inspired by this film (or discussion) to __________.

Additional media literacy questions are available at:https://www.amdoc.org/engage/resources/media-literacy-questions-analyzing-pov-films/using-framework/

If the group is having trouble generating their own ideas, these suggestions can help get things started:

Work with civic, government, and business groups to help link local restaurants and other foodservice providers (schools, dorms, stadiums, etc.) to local family farmers.

If your area has a farmer’s market, drop by and talk with some of the local farmers about their work (and then purchase something from them!) If needed, facilitate farmer’s market vendors’ ability to accept food stamps and/or formally cooperate with food assistance programs. And if there isn’t a farmer’s market nearby, consider contacting farmers in the region to see if it might be possible to start one, or perhaps develop a CSA program.

Start (or help start) a community or school garden.

Investigate the current federal Farm Bill and its provisions for family farmers. Meet with your legislative representatives to let them know where you stand and any changes you’d like to see.

Explore content related to Farmsteaders on the POV website, where you’ll also find other relevant features, shorts, and digital projects.

Farmsteaders – General information about the film. Also find them @farmsteadersdoc.

Laurel Valley Creamery – The website for the cheese side of the Nolan family farm

U.S. Department of Agriculture – Federal government programs, policies, and statistics related to family farms

America’s Diverse Family Farms – A summary and downloadable pdf of a report on the current state of family farming (what they raise, average earnings, size, etc.)

Local Harvest – An online directory to find the closest farmer’s market near you.

4-H – 4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4-H programs empower nearly 6 million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org.

Writer

Faith Rogow, InsightersEducation.com

Guide Producers, POV

Alice Quinlan

Director, Community Engagement and Education, POV

Rachel Friedland

Community Partnerships Assistant, POV

Thanks to those who reviewed this guide:

Shaena Mallet

Filmmaker, Farmsteaders

Chad Stevens

Producer, Farmsteaders

This resource was created, in part, with the generous support of the Open Society Foundation.