We saw Farmageddon - The Unseen War on American Family Farms last fall, when it was in a local movie theatre. It's produced and directed by Kristin Canty, a mom of four, who couldn't understand why the healthy food she wanted to buy for her family, was so hard to find.

Kristin said, about why she made this film, "I decided I needed to tell this story. My goal was to let these honest farmers using centuries old farming practices tell their side of the stories. So, I set out to make a film. Farmageddon is in no way meant to convince anyone to drink raw milk, or eat grass fed beef, but rather an argument to allow those that want to make those choices to do so. It is simply about freedom of food choice. The government needs to stop harassing small farmers, private food buying clubs and co- ops without food freedom.... we are not free."

From the movie's website, "Americans' right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why."

"Farmageddon highlights the urgency of food freedom, encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve individuals' rights to access food of their choice and farmers' rights to produce these foods safely and free from unreasonably burdensome regulations. The film serves to put policymakers and regulators on notice that there is a growing movement of people aware that their freedom to choose the foods they want is in danger, a movement that is taking action with its dollars and its voting power to protect and preserve the dwindling number of family farms that are struggling to survive."

I knew the basic premise of the movie before we went to see it as I had seen the trailer and have been impatiently waiting for it to come to a theater near me. It's such a travesty of justice that our small farmers are under fire, most times with no just cause. There are cases of food and animals being seized, hundreds of thousands of dollars of livestock, and equipment seized, for no reason. No complaints had been filed, no one had gotten sick. There have been raids of private food clubs, guns drawn on young children. It's not just isolated instanced. Google "farmers raided" and you will see too many examples. There are more examples on my post of last year, [..]

This is not the American Way!

I thought Farmageddon was brilliantly directed. Where it could have just been a very depressing story, there's hope here too. It's about the growing real food movement and how more and more people are looking to buy their food directly from their local farmers.

It's time for all of us to stand up for food freedom. For the freedom to choose real food for our families and for the choice to not have our food contaminated by GMOs. I am starting to wonder if it's going to take acts of civil disobedience - nonviolent resistance - and becoming vocal to the point where the FDA, USDA and our government understand that we are not going to put up with our small farmers being harassed and raided for good no reason. It's time to stand up for ourselved and our farmers!

This is a film that everyone should see. It's only in a few theaters now, but if you are near anywhere there is a showing, it's an incredible film. Below is the link to the website. There you can watch the trailer and see or arrange a screening. Highly recommended! - Review from Moms for Safe Food

I saw this film in DC at the premiere and I'm looking forward to getting the DVD to share.

This film is an amazing eye-opener. I'm a big supporter of fresh and local food, and respect my farmers. I had no idea what small farms are up against these days, now I do.

Police with flack jackets and guns raiding small family farms, because of raw milk? Sounds more like a science fiction film rather than a documentary, but it's true. I did some fact checking on the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website.

Most folks I know, value and trust the fresh food from our neighboring farmers, and don't need the government stamp of approval to know that it's good (or safe) to eat.

I mean come on, because raw milk from an inspected dairy crossed state lines, it's suddenly an imminent health hazard? That part made me angry. What a waste of food, money and time! That inspector looked like she was raised during the depression. How on earth did she let all that milk be wasted?

And, what about that Pennsylvania Amish farmer? They wiped out his store,(not once but three times!), put all the food in a hot truck, and dumped bleach on it in a landfill?

I read that in Pennsylvania 6 out of 100 people go HUNGRY, and their ag department would rather throw perfectly good food out, because the farmer doesn't have a license?

I hope you watch this film, become an advocate for food rights and small farms, and may even try a glass or gallon of raw milk. I found mine on the Real Milk website.

We've got to change the laws so that they encourage, protect and support these small family farms.

Americans are beginning to realize the myriad problems with the industrial food system, and many people are turning to local farmers for alternatives. But the farmers who work to produce healthy local foods face serious challenges from government bureaucracies that work for the interests of the industrial food system.

Farmageddon is an important movie that shows some of the challenges these farmers face, and why every person needs to become an active citizen, not just a consumer, if we want real change in our food system.