“I want to give Carhartt a shoutout for the authenticity,” Mac Stone told Farms.com. “They respected that the nice leather boots they gave me would look out of character to do what I was doing in certain parts of the filming.”
Articles of clothing like the ones Carhartt produce are just as important as pieces of equipment like tractors or trucks, he added.
Stone’s wife Ann and her brother John grew up on the farm their parents Cecil and Kay started in the 1930s.
In the film, the farmers discuss parts of their operation and what it takes to run a family farm.
Ann, for example, says the Narragansett breed of turkey works well for the farm because the birds can withstand the heat and the cold, and they forage well.
Stone wants the film to be an extension of the educating he and other farmers do to help everyday Americans understand where their food comes from.
“We spend a lot of time educating more than marketing,” he said. “Each aspect of the farm benefits other aspects. The grazing program my brother-in-law John is on is the fertility program for all the vegetables that we grow.”
And as families spend time together around the holiday season, Stone wants Americans to understand that raising food is just as personal of an experience as enjoying it.
Especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables.
“Every leaf of lettuce and every raspberry is picked one piece at a time by another human being,” he said. “It’s not just something to fill up on. There’s thought processes about how we grew it and dealt with the weather.”
Another one of the families featured in Gatherings is the Martin family from Mount Olive, N.C., who run Footprints in the Garden, a Black-owned farm that’s been in the family since 1883.
Carrie, her husband Tim, and their daughter Erin own and operate the farm, producing crops like Parisian carrots, elderberries, red okra and yellow flesh watermelons.
Using their crops for the community is at the center of what the Martin family does.
“We’re utilizing those things to teach the community and to be an asset to the community,” Carrie told Farms.com. “We want to make sure our youth is prepared to take care of themselves on the land, and teaching folks who don’t have access to land they can do patio gardening and have access to fresh food.”
They also help other farmers use the infrastructure on their farms, and how to implement biochar.
“We want our farm to be a demo farm so people can educate themselves and then decide whether that practice is for them,” Carrie said.
The Martins wanted to be in Gatherings for multiple reasons.
One was to highlight that anyone can be part of a food system, Carrie said.
“It’s very important to see different ways that people contribute to their food chain,” she said. “It’s important for people to see they can be part of the natural food chain if they choose to.”
“And there’s a minority out there who wants to do what we’re doing,” Erin added. “Seeing that representation lets them know there’s a way to do this. It may not look just like ours but there’s ways you can do this and be profitable from it.”
The farm is also evidence of the changes that occur in agriculture.
The land the current generation of Martins farm on once had tobacco, dairy cattle, soybeans, and wheat.
“We’re transforming as time goes on to the next generation and what they’re interested in,” Carrie said. “Erin enjoys cooking so we’re in the process of establishing a kitchen so she can make her meals for outreach and farm-to-table events.”
The Martins want viewers to have at least one takeaway from the film.
Just because an ingredient was purchased at a grocery store doesn’t mean that’s where it started.
“The main message is teaching children food doesn’t come from the Wal-Mart,” Carrie said. “There’s a food system that we have in America and locally that you can be a part of. And if you’re growing and eating nutrient-dense foods, the healthier you will be.”
The other farm featured in the film was Russell Rezin & Son Cranberry Marsh in Warrens, Wis.
This farm’s cranberries go directly into Ocean Spray products.