Who doesn’t love a good food and farming documentary? Or a standout agricultural biopic? It’s important that farmers’ voices are heard and the uplifting and beautiful story of agriculture is told in a mainstream way.
Here is a list of the top films to watch that tell the firsthand (and authentic) story of food and agriculture and are accessible via streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vimeo, and YouTube:
Farmland
Watch it here. Academy Award-winning director James Moll helms an in-depth documentary spotlighting six young ranchers and farmers and uncovering the high-risk/high-reward of farming. Nothing is off limits from organic to GMO, large farms and small. Throughout the documentary, the farmers (all in their 20s and 30s) struggle to maintain their farms and make the operations more and more sustainable.
Before The Plate
Watch it here. A high-end restaurant in Toronto, Canada, called Canoe traces all of the ingredients from one dish back to the Ontario province farms where the ingredients originated from. The film is all encompassing: from organic farms to beekeeping, large cattle ranches and sunflowers — a wide array of foods and production methods! The ending of the film will leave you with “the feels.” You may even shed a tear or two over the remarkable connection you feel to the honest pride from the family farm. (Read an in-depth review here.)
Well Fed
Watch it here. Have you ever seen broccoli in the forest? It is a tale involving two Dutch friends: one is Hidde Boersma, a scientist who sees remarkable potential in GMOs; the other is Karsten de Vreugd, a man who celebrates organic production and is skeptical of GMOs. They go from their native Netherlands to England and then to the farms in Bangladesh. This film explains the importance of genetic modification, and the pair explore how our first-world privilege may very well be harming the Earth and how farmers in the poorest countries need biotechnology the most. (Read an in-depth review here.)
Science Moms
Watch it here. A short film featuring science-based moms who share the same common goal of feeding their children without fearmongering! From GMOs to vaccines to a whole host of other things used to scare today’s parents, these five moms boil down the science the right way.
License to Farm
Watch it here. A film that encourages farmers to speak up and tell their stories with messages devoted to bridging the gap between farmers and consumers. Will farmers be allowed to feed 9 billion people? The short documentary looks at the science, sustainability, and food safety aspects of modern agriculture and encourages farmers to stand up for their right to farm.
Food Evolution
Watch it here. A balanced film that showcases the debate on GMOs, narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and directed by Academy Award-nominee Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The filmmakers have a deep understanding of what drives people to make decisions about their food — there are more emotional factors at play than there are rational ones. (Read more on the film here.)
Temple Grandin
Watch it here. In this feature biopic, actress Clare Danes plays a young Temple Grandin. Based on a true story, the film tells her life story growing up with autism. Grandin eventually finds her life’s work and passion lies with working cattle and is currently professor of animal science at Colorado State University, a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior, and an autism spokesperson.
Unbranded
Watch it here. A crowd-funded film made by Fin and Fur productions from Montana, it follows four men and sixteen mustangs on an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada through the American West to inspire adoptions for the 50,000 wild horses and burros in government captivity. It celebrates the American mustang as they travel through some of the most beautiful public lands in the country.
500 Miles
Watch it here. A short film that explores bonds between mustangs and combat veterans. This documentary was created and filmed by Heroes and Horses, a program that inspires veterans to move beyond the difficulties experienced from years of war, toward a life of restoration and hope.
Walk, Ride, Rodeo
This drama highlights Amberley Snyder, a nationally ranked barrel racer who, at 19, barely survived a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors told her she’d never regain use or feeling again below her waist — despite that, 18 months later she was back in the saddle. (Read more on the film here.)
Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait
Watch it here. Cowboys is a feature-length documentary that offers the opportunity to ride alongside modern working cowboys on some of America’s largest and most remote cattle ranches while working on horseback. Narrated through the firsthand accounts from the cowboys themselves, the story is steeped in authenticity and explores the rewards and hardships of a celebrated but misunderstood way of life — along with the challenges that lie ahead for the cowboys and ranches critical to providing the world’s supply of beef.
