Agriculture enthusiasts of all kinds were invited to The Screening Room this weekend to take in a film series titled Depth of Field: Films about farming.
The series, produced and presented by the National Farmers Union, looks at over 50 different Canadian farms, and the challenges they face year-round.
Josh Suppan owns a farm.
He’s also the president of the local chapter of the National Farmers Union. He said farmers all over the world are facing a variety of problems, but there is one common problem affecting them all.
“Climate change is certainly a big one. You have to be resilient to battle the ever-changing weather patterns, whether you’re having a drought one year or you’re having crazy rains or high temperatures, low temperatures,” said Suppan.
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Suppan also points out people are far less connected to the food they eat, something the docuseries addresses.
“We’re very removed from our food in society now which, we haven’t been, like … 50 years ago and before that, you know, everyone was growing their food and that’s very much not the case now,” he added.
It’s a sentiment echoed by local farmer and fellow union member Katherine Rothermel.
Her farm on Wolfe Island, Kitchen Table Seed House, is featured in the docuseries.
“The food system is like out there somewhere and we’re just so disconnected from the farms and the industrial farming system and I just hope that it personalizes it for people,” she said.
That’s why the movies are being screened in communities from coast to coast to coast.
Sunday’s screenings at the Screening Room were sold out.
Rothermel said she hopes the series will inspire people to be better stewards of the land.
“I really hope that people can connect with the stories of individual farms and sort of personalize it in a way that allows people to connect in a better way,” she said.
Though they’re only being screened in Kingston once, the series of short films is available on the National Farmers Union of Canada’s YouTube channel.
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