"Biggest Little Farm"

Last updated over 3 years ago

2 questions

"Biggest Little Farm"

Last updated over 3 years ago

2 questions

Watch the movie "Biggest Little Farm" during class. While you are watching, consider the following themes and concepts:

Industrialized Agriculture vs. Small Family Farms
Monoculture vs. Agroforestry
Using pesticides vs. Organic gardening
Uncertainty of the future, regarding drought, fire, rain & flood
Gardening in harmony with nature
To kill or not to kill predators of livestock
Food webs/chains
Biodiversity & Resilience of ecosystems
Economics of farming
Crowd-sourcing/fundraising
Roles of working dogs/animals
Volunteerism & farm community
Urban vs. Rural

Either during or after the film, write down a list of all the organisms that you saw in the film. Afterward, try to draw a food web interconnecting everything, including humans and what they eat. You can generalize some categories such as "fruit trees", "covercrops", and "vegetables". Put circles around the animals/plants that were put there by the farmers, and underline the parts that came in from nature.

After watching the film and seeing life through the eyes of farmers in California, did you find yourself seeing anything differently or thinking about things differently than you did before? Take some time to write a few paragraphs in response to anything about the film that you found thought-provoking.

Optional read: The article below discusses the economic realities of Apricot Lane Farm and other small farming operations.

"Two New Films Paint Starkly Different Pictures of Farming in America"