Educational Media Reviews Online

Small family farms need not be a thing of the past. This is the surprising lesson of Good Food: local organic farms can be more productive, now and for the future, than large-scale commercial farms.

The film contains twenty or so vignettes featuring growers, distributors and purveyors of local food. Even just half the number of vignettes could have communicated the message effectively, but since personal stories are inspiring, many viewers may find this abundance acceptable. For viewers looking for something shorter, there is an abbreviated version on the same DVD (57 minutes instead of 73).

Even though the film inserts statistics that point to the demise of farming (for example, “the leading cause of death among farmers is suicide”), on the whole, it tells a story of positive change. It introduces farmers who choose organic because organic is more profitable. It shows distributors, grocers and chefs who are successfully creating a local food economy. It plays sound bites of consumers who say that organic tastes better to their kids.

In a few small ways, the film could be better. The full-length version would benefit from less redundancy. Some facts and statistics that are meant to illustrate the problems of commercial farming are jarring because they are sandwiched inelegantly between unrelated vignettes. These would have been more effective if they had been woven more seamlessly into the story.

Overall, the message of the film is strong and relevant, and the personal stories are compelling. The tone of the film is more educational than entertaining, so it is recommended for junior high through college classroom use.