In a once-thriving farm community, Nick Nolan, his wife Celeste, and their young family are on a journey to resurrect his grandfather's dairy farm. Farmsteaders takes place in the rolling foothills of Ohio, just a few miles north of the Ohio River, where, like countless other places in rural America, a once thriving agriculture economy has given way to the pressures of agribusiness and corporate farming. Fertile farmland is unused, barns are falling over, health issues are skyrocketing.

Farmsteaders points an honest and tender lens at everyday life in rural America, offering an unexpected voice for a forsaken people: those who grow the food that sustains us.

Learn more about Farmsteaders and explore additional resources about the film and filmmakers at: https://www.pbs.org/pov/farmsteaders/

AUDIENCE

• Middle and High School Afterschool Programs
• College Agricultural Programs
• Community Gardens

1. Farm- tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes
2. Ranch- large farm for raising horses, beef cattle or sheep
3. Family - farm that is owned and operated by a family, especially one that has been handed down from one generation to another
4. Homesteader - lives on their farm and cultivates the land in order to provide food and resources for their family
5. Farmsteader - lives on their farm and generates enough produce to both provide for the family and make some profit. Farmsteaders may or may not have sources of income other than the farm

1. What is a farmer? Picture a typical farmer and describe the person you see. What work do they do? What does a normal day look like for a farmer?
2. Where have you learned about farmers and the farming industry in the United States (first-hand experience, news media, films/television, etc.)
3. What are some factors that motivate people to go into farming?
4. What challenges do modern American farmers face?
5. Do you know any farmers? Have you ever visited a farm? If so, what are the best and worst aspects of farming in your opinion?
6. If you were are farmer, what kind of farm would you like to run? What would you want to produce?

Have participants think about what they ate and drank for lunch (or their favorite meal). Ask the participants to write down all the elements of the meal (main course, sides, drinks, dessert, condiments etc.) Have them think about where all of these ingredients come from, then circle up to three ingredients that they believe came from a farm. Guide them through a discussion using the following questions as prompts:

1. Where were these ingredients grown/produced/cultivated?
2. Do you think any of the ingredients came from a farm in your state/region? Why or why not?
3. What products are grown/produced by the farms that are nearest to your area?
4. Do you know if grocery stores (or the school cafeteria) source any of their food directly from local farms?
5. What are the pros and cons of buying directly from local farmers?
6. Have you ever bought food/products directly from a farm or farmers market? What kind of food/products do they have for sale? What foods would not be sold at a farm or farmers market?

1. Only 1 percent of the population currently claims farming as their occupation, as opposed to 40 percent just over a century ago.
2. Small farms accounted for 46 percent of U.S. agriculture production in 1991, but by 2015, that share had fallen to under 25 percent.
3. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were nearly 650,000 dairy farms in the U.S. in 1970, but just 40,219 remained at the end of 2017 and 66 percent of all dairy sales come from the 3 percent of farms that are large or very large family farms.
4. 42,000 dairy farmers have gone out of business since 2000 due to changing markets, farm loans, and pressures from corporate agriculture.
5. The top 10 percent of farms in terms of size account for more than 70 percent of cropland in the United States.
6. Only eight percent of U.S. farms market foods locally through farmers’ markets and food hubs.
7. 36 percent of all producers are female and 56 percent of all farms have at least one female decision maker.
8. Almost one-third of America’s primary farm operators are over the age of 65. Primary producers over 65 now outnumber those under 35 by more than 6 to 1.
9. Farms with young producers making decisions tend to be larger than average in both acres and sales. There are 321,261 young producers age 35 or less on 240,141 farms.
10. 27 percent of farmers are categorized as new and beginning producers with less than 10 years of experience in agriculture.

Sources:

1. “Demographics.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 9 July 2015, https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/ag_101_agriculture_us_epa_0.pdf.

2. MacDonald, James M. and Robert A. Hoppe. “Large Family Farms Continue To Dominate U.S. Agricultural Production.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, 6 March 2017, https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2017/march/large-family-farms-continue-to-dominate-us-agricultural-production/.

3. “Agricultural Marketing Service: Creating Opportunities for American Farmers and Businesses.” United States Department of Agriculture, http://srdc.msstate.edu/foods/LF%20Presentation%20908%2715final-DebraTropp-AMSWebinar.pdf.

4. McCausland, Phil. “Best Advice to U.S. Dairy Farmers? ‘Sell Out as Fast as You Can’.” NBC News, 30 June 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/best-advice-u-s-dairy-farmers-sell-out-fast-you-n887941.

5. Ferdman, Roberto A. “The Decline of the Small American Family Farm in One Chart.” The Washington Post, 16 September 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/16/the-decline-of-the-small-american-family-farm-in-one-chart/?utm_term=.e55528c68ee9.

6. “Agricultural Marketing Service: Creating Opportunities for American Farmers and Businesses.” United States Department of Agriculture, http://srdc.msstate.edu/foods/LF%20Presentation%20908%2715final-DebraTropp-AMSWebinar.pdf.

7. White, Teresa and Sue King. “2017 Census of Agriculture Data Now Available.” U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11 April 2019, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2019/04/11/2017-census-agriculture-data-now-available.

8.2017 Census of Agriculture: United States Summary and State Data. United States Department of Agriculture, April 2019, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_US/usv1.pdf.

9. White, Teresa and Sue King. “2017 Census of Agriculture Data Now Available.” U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11 April 2019, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2019/04/11/2017-census-agriculture-data-now-available.

10. Hageman, Markie. “2017 Census of Agriculture: Beginning Farmers See a Rebound.” AGDAILY, 12 April 2019, https://www.agdaily.com/insights/2017-census-agriculture-beginning-farmers/.

While watching the clips, encourage the audience to think about how the Nolan family’s experience compares with their previous understanding of farmers and farm work and note the risks and benefits of running a small family farm.

Discussion prompts:

1. What surprised you most about Nick and Celeste’s life together as farmsteaders? How did their experience compare with your previous image of farmers?
2. What motivated Nick and his family to become dairy farmers? How has the farming community changed since Nick’s childhood?
3. Which aspects of farming are beyond the control of the farmers? What are the biggest risks that small farms like the Nolan’s face?
4. What sacrifices has the family had to make in order to keep their farm from failing?
5. What are the benefits of being farmsteaders?
6. If you had the chance to meet Nick and Celeste, what would you ask them and why?

Get Growing!

School and community gardens offer exciting and intimate introductions to agriculture though activities that bring to life critical issues such as nutrition, food security, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Often, a difficult part of running a garden program is finding resources, guidance, and lessons that are appropriate to your community and environment. Below are a range of detailed guides compiled by organizations and schools to help gardens succeed, including school-based lessons that align with STEM, common core, and other state and national standards.

Resources:

National Farm to School Network

The National Farm to School Network website provides information, resources and networking opportunities for communities working to bring local food sourcing, school gardens, and food and agriculture education into schools and early care and education settings.

The Edible Schoolyard Project

Free lesson plans and materials for the national edible education curriculum ranging from pre-kindergarten through high school.

Farm to School Rocks!

A comprehensive farm to school resource database with toolkits, policy, curricula and more.

Life Lab

Offers garden-based learning programming, curriculum, and professional development.

University of Georgia: School Garden Resources

Resources for garden planning, including information on size, location, raised beds, plants to include in an edible garden, tools, sheds, and fencing.

Insteading

Resources for sustainable living through gardening, farming, buying local, and homesteading.

FoodSpan

A free, downloadable high school curriculum developed by Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future that explores critical food system issues.

Discovering Farmland: Discovery Education & U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance

A multi-modal curriculum that explores critical issues impacting the agriculture industry, such as sustainability, the new science behind farming, and entrepreneurship.

The Food Project

Network and resources for youth and adults from diverse backgrounds to work together to build sustainable food systems.

Real Food Generation

Provides resources for students, faculty, food service professionals, and allies to secure real food purchasing policies on their campuses.

Community Alliance with Family Farmers

CAFF provides resources for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farm to school, food safety, farm to market and sustainability.

National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

A database of school-based agriculture curriculum and resources for students and teachers.

Understanding the American Family Farm

The family farm is a potent aspect of American cultural identity, conjuring images of multiple generations working the fields to provide for their families and their community. The 2017 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) census report assured that this legacy endures with 98 percent of U.S. farms designated as “family farms” that account for 87 percent of farm production across the country.

In contrast, farmers and their advocates have been raising the alarm for more than 40 years that corporate agriculture, factory farming, and market instability have driven the American family farm into crisis with thousands of farms failing each year and families losing their livelihoods and their ancestral homes.

Have participants examine the conflicting narratives about American family farms and how different groups interpret the meaning and significance of “the family farm” to serve specific goals. Participants should pay special attention to the misinterpretation (or misuse) of the concept of the “family farm” as an indicator of a farm’s size or agricultural practices.

Share the following definition of a family farm provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and discuss how it compares with our cultural perception of the American family farm. (For example, if these same guidelines were applied to other aspects of our economy Walmart would qualify as a family business just as much as an independent, local shop.)

The current definition of a family farm, since 2005, based on the Agricultural Resource Management Survey is one in which the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator by blood, marriage, or adoption, including relatives that do not live in the operator household.

Once participants understand the disparate ways family farms are defined, have them examine how this disconnect impacts public opinion, local and national policy, and protections for small- and medium-sized farmers and consumers.

Sources:

“2017 Census of Agriculture Highlights: Farm Producers.” United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service,April 2019, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Farm_Producers.pdf.

“America’s Diverse Family Farms.” USDA Economic Information Bulletin, no. 23, 2018. USDA Economic Research Service, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/90985/eib-203.pdf?v=6080.

Bunge, Jacob. “Supersized Family Farms Are Gobbling Up American Agriculture.” The Wall Street Journal,23 October 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-family-farm-bulks-up-1508781895.

“Census of Agriculture.” United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service,https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/.

DePillis, Lydia. “Farms Are Gigantic Now. Even the ‘Family-owned’ Ones.” The Washington Post, 11 August 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/11/farms-are-gigantic-now-even-the-family-owned-ones/?noredirect=on.

“Family Farms.” USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, https://nifa.usda.gov/family-farms.

“Glossary.” United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service,https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-household-well-being/glossary.aspx.

“How Corporate Control Squeezes Out Small Farms.” The Pew Charitable Trusts,18 July 2012, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2012/07/18/how-corporate-control-squeezes-out-small-farms.

MacDonald, James M., Robert A. Hoppe, and Doris Newton. “Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture.” USDA Economic Information Bulletin, no. 189, 2018. USDA Economic Research Service, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88057/eib-189.pdf?v=0&_ga=2.1542001.1124861362.1564950699-1599887865.1564950699.

McGreal, Chris. “How America’s Food Giants Swallowed the Family Farms.” The Guardian, 9 March 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/09/american-food-giants-swallow-the-family-farms-iowa.

Taber, Sarah. “America Loves the Idea of Small Family Farms. That’s Unfortunate.” New York Magazine,16 June 2019, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/america-loves-the-idea-of-family-farms-thats-unfortunate.html.

Food Security & Food Deserts

Food Security as defined by the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

“Food deserts” are geographic areas where access to affordable, healthy food options is limited or nonexistent because grocery stores are too far away. More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, live in food deserts and lack food security. Have participants learn more about the increase of food deserts across the United States and research the prevalence of food deserts in their region/community.

Explore: What images does the term “food desert” call to mind? What criteria might we use to determine whether a community is a food desert? Why are healthy food options available in some communities and not others? Compare food deserts in different parts of the country—what do these communities have in common? Have any “food desert” communities developed successful strategies to improve food security? What roles can family farms, farm to school programs and community gardens play to make fresh and healthy food available to all?

Locate Food Deserts with the USDA’s new food desert locator map.

The American Farm

According to a 2019 review of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, “foreign investors control – either through direct ownership or long-term leases – at least 28.3 million acres [of U.S. agricultural land], valued at $52.2 billion.” The amount of agricultural land held by foreign owners doubled between 2004 and 2014 and as a result, more than 2 percent of U.S. farmland—about the size of the state of Ohio—is currently controlled by interests from a wide range of countries including Canada, China, Brazil, Portugal, and Luxembourg.

Have participants research the ongoing national and local debate between the financial benefits of foreign investments versus risks to American farmers and food security with a focus on: What was the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978 and what impact is it having on modern farming? What benefits do foreign investments provide to communities? What rights and restrictions do foreign investors have on the use of U.S. farmland? How is foreign ownership affecting family farms and small-scale farmers? In a globalized economy, what status do farms owned by multinational corporations hold? Are foreign-owned farms in the U.S. “American” farms (and what does it mean to be an “American” farm)?

Sources:

Babich, Volodymyr, Simone Marinesi, and Gerry Tsoukalas. “Buying Agriculture Anywhere–A Primer.” Wharton Public Policy Initiative Issue Brief,vol. 7, no. 5, 25 August 2017, https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/2092-buying-agriculture-anywhere-a-primer.

Boyce, Brian. “It’s Not Just What U.S. Farmland is Foreign-Held, It’s What the Intentions Are.” AGDAILY,28 July 2017, https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/print/27342.

Hettinger, Jonathan. “Efforts to Restrict Foreign Ownership of US Farmland Grow.” AP News, 9 June 2019, https://www.apnews.com/e541895e692545ee80d0fc609cf40011.

Hettinger, Jonathan and Robert Holly. “Foreign Investment in U.S. Farmland on the Rise.” Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, 22 June 2017, https://investigatemidwest.org/2017/06/22/foreign-investment-into-u-s-farmland-on-the-rise/.

Raasch, Chuck. “Foreign Investment in U.S. Land on the Rise.” USA Today,25 July 2012, https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-18/foreign-investing-US-farm-timber-land/56466674/1.

United States, U.S. Government Accountability Office. Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland—Much Concern, Little Data.Government Printing Office, 12 June 1978, https://www.gao.gov/assets/130/123264.pdf.

“Who’s Behind the Chinese Takeover of the World’s Biggest Pork Producer?” PBS News Hour, 12 September 2014, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whos-behind-chinese-takeover-worlds-biggest-pork-producer.

The Film

POV

The official website for POV includes the documentary film collection, educator resources, interactive projects, and more.

POV: Farmsteaders

The film’s official POV site includes a discussion guide with additional activity ideas and resources.

Farmsteaders: Official Film Website

The film’s official website provides information on the film and filmmakers.

POV: Media Literacy Questions for Analyzing POV Films

This list of questions provides a useful starting point for leading rich discussions that challenge students to think critically about documentaries.

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.

National Farm to School Network

The National Farm to School Network website provides information, resources and networking opportunities for communities working to bring local food sourcing, school gardens, and food and agriculture education into schools and early care and education settings.

Farm to School Grant Program

Official website for the annual USDA Farm to School grants for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs.

USDA Farm to School Census

The Farm to School Census website includes data, resources, and educational information based on the USDA 2015 survey of over 18,000 public, private and charter school districts across the United States.

Farm Aid

Farm Aid offers educational resources and lesson plans, provides support services to farm families and connects small farms with local and regional markets including urban neighborhoods, schools and other public institutions.

PBS: Farm to Table

A PBS series that connects with local farmers and agricultural experts about the importance of cooking and eating locally.

PBS: The Lexicon of Sustainability

A PBS web series exploring the language and principles that define sustainability.

PBS: Frontier House

A lesson plan based around the PBS programs Frontier House that looks at the significance of the Homestead Act of 1862 and how it influenced the evolution of American farming and the image of the American Farmer.

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