Educational Media Reviews Online

This film attempts to show the struggles that farmers on Long Island, New York, experience while trying to maintain family farms as a viable livelihood. Unfortunately, what should have been an interesting picture of agriculture in the shadow of New York City was nothing but a series of disjointed clips. The film features interviews with several farmers, many of whom are carrying on a multi-generational legacy of working the land on Long Island. We also hear about legislative policies and conservation programs from various talking heads. Flashbacks to early settlement history are randomly dispersed throughout the film. Strangely, it was twenty minutes into the film before the filmmaker confirmed that yes, we were learning about the Long Island of New York City fame. Although the pressure to sell out to real estate development - because a farmer can often make more money by selling the land to developers than by continuing to farm it - is eventually mentioned, it is not done so with the sense of urgency that it deserves.

The technical aspects of this film are also lacking. In addition to the lack of a cohesive narrative, both the picture and sound are lacking professional quality. For most interviewees, the camcorder was on a tripod set too low – it had to be angled up to catch their faces, which are shadowed by hat brims and/or backlighting. Sound quality suffers from the need of a better microphone for outdoor filming.

Perhaps of interest to those in the New York area, but otherwise not recommended.