Farmageddon

The documentary Farmageddon is about private clubs and food co-ops that strive to provide healthy local food to their customers, but are constantly facing raids from government officials. The government has put so many regulations on the food industry and, while some of these regulations are very beneficial, others are simply stripping small business owners and farmers of their freedoms. The documentary was directed and produced by Kristin Canty, who made the film to spread awareness of the widely unknown danger small farms are put in by the government and the laws placed on food businesses. Canty’s hope is that the films audience, which is likely already interested in the issue, will become more proactive and change the way others think about our food industry as well as the way the government controls it. The fact that Canty is the mother of children who suffer from allergies and asthma led Canty to become a small farm supporter. This challenge to buy local and organic food caused Canty to discover the government raids on the small farms, and in turn inspired her to produce her first documentary to address the issue. This personal involvement gave rise to a conflict of interests, and therefore a large bias against government raids on small farms and co-ops. Ron Paul, Republican, as well as Chellie Pingree and Ed Perlmutter, Democrat, sponsored a screening of the film in Washington, DC as well as other cities and towns across the country. By supporting this film, these politicians are helping bring to light the concerns Farmageddon touches upon. In fact Pingree’s involvement with the topic at hand goes even further; in 2013, she presented the “Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act” to congress, which encouraged economic growth and supported local and organic farms. Having Chellie Pingree sponsoring the film gives it a leg up in spreading awareness. While spreading awareness Canty reports many facts to back up her argument and advocacy for small farms. Her facts are reliable and from reliable sources in the food industry. While some are less specific than other facts all do contain truth behind the meaning. For example, “easy access to 'cheap' meat is causing a worldwide epidemic of obesity-related diseases” not all “cheap” meat is causing this but it does contribute to the obesity- related diseases. Canty’s main normative argument is it is unfair that the government raids small farms simply because of regulations. In order to defend her argument she provides moving stories and statistics as to why her argument is valid. One specific moving story was the story of the Steve Smith who is a New York dairy farmer whose organic yogurt was seized in a raid.