It was the Tidewater premiere of FOOD, INC., the new documentary by Robert Kenner that reveals the ugly truths about the US food system–dominated by only a few corporations, creating havoc with our health, our land, the animals and the humans who raise, kill and process them for mass consumption. It wasn’t a feel good, isn’t-life-wonderful kind of film. Real Food advocate Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and investigative reporter Eric Schlosser, who wrote FastFoodNation voice the facts, the problems and the controversies. A few clips with ordinary farmers highlight the crushing power of giants like Monsanto, who can literally put farmers out of business for cleaning seed to save for another year. And then there’s the politics of food, farms and government regulatory agencies slacking in their duties to catch diseased beef and other foods, mothers with dead children because of E. coli contamination. Sad, and true, and scary.

Farmer Joel Salatin

The mood lifted entirely when the fresh-faced, successful farmer Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Swope, Virginia, shared his vision, cheering on the happy cows, pigs and chickens roaming actual grass pasture instead of being crammed into feces-filled pens. Wild applause accompanied many of Salatin’s pronouncements about health and well-being like a great “Amen!” at a Baptist church service. At least one farmer gets it, and so many more are being inspired by his way of raising animals.

Was Joel preaching to the choir? I am pretty sure that many of these film-goers already have a grasp on the darkness in the American food story and at least a few are creating enlightening, new chapters. The Naro’s healthy-life evangelist Tench Phillips invited not one, but seven guests to address the assembly, including two farmers–the aforementioned John Wilson of New Earth Farm in Virginia Beach; and Rick Felker of Mattawoman Creek Farms on the Eastern Shore; Bev Sell, the firebrand behind the Five Points Community Farm Market at 26th and Church Streets in Norfolk; Jerry Cook from the World Orchard Project; Ashley Gonzalez from PETA ; Joanne Hofheimer, founder of the Hampton Roads chapter of “Buy Fresh, Buy Local”; and Dave Hausmann, co-owner of The Boot Restaurant, the first of Norfolk’s restaurants to make a commitment to buying Virginia farm products and beverages. With so many representatives, and not much time to share, this part of the program was a bit like being at a potluck–you only got little bites of your favorite dishes…but now you know who to ask for the recipes.

John Wilson's New Earth Farm in Virginia Beach

As exciting as it is to see a theater full of people all devoted to healthy food, I was still ruminating like the cows from Joel Salatin’s farm. Some in the audience may still think of food as “product” and not “ process.” Food grows in soil–it’s not sanitized like a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s Market. Choosing to live a farm life is demanding and complex. We live on a five-acre farm, and grow vegetables on about half of that. We have a fairly small CSA, 30 members strong. We supply food to two area food stores, sell occasionally to restaurants, and this summer we decided to support a neighborhood “ Green Market” at Red Mill Commons, setting up every Saturday morning before 8 am while the CSA volunteers and farm helpers are getting things in order at the farm. We feed, water and tend 50 chickens at the moment–the freest, roaming flock we’ve ever had. John collects eggs every day, and I wash them by hand. Add eight farm cats–no more kittens thanks to Peta’s Mobile Spay/neuter program–and you can get a glimpse of a busy life.

And I’m not the farmer. I’m the freelance writer/early childhood music teacher/library story-time presenter. I’m the CSA newsletter writer and email connector. It’s John who changes his long-sleeved t-shirts three times a day in the summer, builds chicken houses, hooks up tractor attachments, orders seed, manages the greenhouse, knows what to do with insects, and everything else. Five Points Community Market organizer Bev Sell said after the film: “If you didn’t love your farmer before you saw this movie, ya gotta love him now.” Right on, Bev.

Healthy, happy little chickens on John Wilson's farm

FOOD INC. didn’t show that part of the food production world: real farmers growing food on a smaller scale. More small farms scattered all over the country. CSAs and farm markets. Community gardens. And political action–caring about the Farm Bill and food safety and speaking up. That’s what it will take for people to un-hook from the Dark Forces that fill our grocery shelves with thousands of products that call themselves food. The convenience of WalMarts and Costcos and giant discounts keep American consumers bamboozled. If they could follow the trail back to where this industrially produced food was put together, would they still want to eat it?

If there was one thing I could have added to this film–and to the discussion–I would have entreated everyone to grow some of their food at home, at school, in community gardens. Everybody can’t be a farmer, but everyone can grow something. Start with a seed.