Every person on earth needs food every day. Every day food is tended, harvested, transported, stored, and served up on our tables. In a very real sense, food cannot be separated from life itself. And so it has been said that changing the way we grow and eat food is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing our economies and society as a whole.

For a while now, the average age of farmers worldwide has hovered around 60 years old. As the older generations of farmers retire, the question grows more pressing: who will grow the food of the future, and what will their farms look like?

Fortunately, a small but growing number of young people around the world have begun to renew their interest in farming, and they’re likely to have smaller, more diversified, less chemical dependent and more community-oriented farms than the generation preceding them. Not only that, but a surprising number of people with college degrees and “prestigious” desk jobs are leaving urban areas and returning to the land.

For week 1 of our 7 week series on food — we’ve chosen a selection of inspiring short films from the USA, Canada, China, India, Thailand and Australia that offer a glimpse into small diverse farming operations around the world.

And now… here are the films for series 1. Enjoy!

The Age of the Farmer

A beautiful, award winning video that features young farmers in the Pacific Northwestern region of the USA and Canada as they share their thoughts and feelings about it what it means to be a small farmer today.
(5.49 min)

“We are not brought up on farms…but even if you go back only a few generations you begin to realize it [farming] is in all of us, it is our roots…I found academia was a lot of talking and not a lot of activity.. …I am creating something amazing [now]…”

Back to the Land: The Organic Movement in China

A short film about Zhang Yuqiu, a young farmer who left a job in the city to start her own organic farm just outside Beijing.
(4.59 min)

Seeds of Life: A Quiet Revolution at the Foothills of Niyamgiri

A return to traditional, organic, mixed farming methods brings new life to the Panga Kodh people in Odisha, India.
(14.49 min)

Future farmers in Europe

Conversations with eight young farmers who have returned to the land in France, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
(7.48 min)

How to become Self Reliant
in Thailand — Pun Pun Organic Farm

A look at Pun Pun Centre for Self-reliance, a small organic farm, seed saving center, and sustainable living and learning hub near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
(5.16 min)

Creatures of Place — A Small Family Permaculture Farm in Australia

A family creates an incredible permaculture system on a 1/4 acre of land in Australia. Farming on the smallest scale.
(12.14 min)

Soul Fire Farm: Feeding the Soul, Growing Community

This film tells the story of the incredible Soul Fire Farm in Albany, New York. Soul Fire is dedicated to ending racism and injustice in the food system, and to reconnecting systemically marginalized people to land, food, and community.
(8.28 min)