New York State is losing a farm every three days and with it a way of life, generations of farming knowledge, small town infrastructure and a whole landscape. When a farm closes, the fields return to scrub within a year. In Washington County, New York, a group of 8 farmers is attempting to stop this from happening to them.  They’ve banded together to form a cooperative to sell beef to local restaurants in an effort to save their own farms and perhaps bring others back.
“Grazers: A Grass-Fed Beef Cooperative“ is a documentary film being finished by Sarah Teale and Lisa Jackson have spent the last two years filming the farmers and their struggles to create a successful cooperative.  They’ll be setting up viewings of the final product with elected officials across the country who are in a position to aide farmers and ranchers.  They’ll also be sharing it with consumers to help them understand more about where their food comes from and how hard farmers work to feed them.  The documentary will also be a good learning tool for other farmers and ranchers interested in their own cooperative ventures.  By seeing the challenges this cooperative faced and how they approached solutions, you can skip their mistakes and create some new ones of your own.
You can make this project a reality by participating in the Kickstarter project to fund taking the film from rough cut to final cut. Â Sarah and Lisa need to raise $15,000 by August 11. Â Send what you can, and think of it as an investment in your own future and your own possible cooperative.
I just backed these folks because I think that this is a great project and one that will benefit all of us. Only a few days left to make this a reality, so do check it out.