The 2017-2018 season of The Elements: An Annual Environmental Film Series will kick off Monday, October 2, 2017 with a screening of Forgotten Farms, about New England's dairy farmers. The film will be shown at 7 pm, at Wesleyan University's Powell Family Cinema, 310 Washington Terrace, Middletown (directions). All films are open to the public and free of charge!
As stated on the film's website, New England has lost over 10,000 dairy farms in the past 50 years, and fewer than 2,000 farms remain. Collectively, these farms tend 1.2 million acres of farmland and produce almost all of the milk consumed in New England. In our enthusiasm for the new food movement, we often overlook the farmers at the foundation of the regional agricultural economy. Only 100 years ago, New England produced most of its own food on 16 million acres of farmland. Climate change will demand that more of our food is grown closer to where we live. As we strive to revive local production, we have much to learn from dairy farmers who have been managing most of the farmland and sustaining the farm economy all along. Through conversations with farmers and policy experts, the film reconsiders the role of these vital but forgotten farmers.After the film, we welcome you to stay for an informal discussion.
This film screening is part of The Elements: An Annual Environmental Film Series, begun in 2015 by the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Middlesex Community College Environmental Science Program, The Rockfall Foundation, and Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts and College of the Environment.
We hope you can join us! Phone our office at 860-346-3282 for more information.
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The Elements: An Annual Environmental Film Series was begun in 2015 by the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Middlesex Community College Environmental Science Program, The Rockfall Foundation, and Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts and College of the Environment. Forgotten Farms is the eleventh film in the series. Previous films include: Elemental, Watershed, Dirt! The Movie, Chasing Ice, The End of the Line, The True Cost, Dukale's Dream, Xmas Without China, and Merchants of Doubt, and Racing to Zero.
