(hat-tip to Karen De Coster, LRC blog)
From Kimberly Hartke:
December 6, 2011–Washington, D.C.– Independent filmmaker Kristin Canty announces today that her film is being screened next week for members of Congress, and the shocking new food documentary was invited back for an encore run at Chicago’s prestigious Gene Siskel Film Center. This summer’s theatrical releases in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, and Boston garnered critical acclaim, and grassroots interest spawned 150 community screenings around the country.
The film opens in Chicago on Saturday, December 10 through the 12th, for one show daily, with a final show on Thursday the 15th. See Gene Siskel Center website for showtimes. The Congressional screening event will take place on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, December 13, 5:30 pm in the Orientation Theater North. U.S. Citizens are encouraged to invite their Congressman and Senator to see the film (find your Representative: http://www.house.gov find your Senator: http://www.senate.gov.
Farmageddon, The Unseen War on American Family Farms, vividly conveys the stories of numerous farmers who found themselves on the wrong side of government food policy. It is hard to imagine our government using S.W.A.T. raids to deal with misdemeanors, nor is it easy to fathom agents of the law seizing valuable farm products and equipment, particularly in cases where there is no proof of harm. This movie enables audiences all across America to come face to face with harsh realities of farm life in our modern day.
Filmmaker Kristin Canty says, “I am very grateful to the Gene Siskel Center for bringing the film back. We had a number of sold out shows in our brief run there this summer. Now more Chicagoans will have the opportunity to see the film!”
Canty’s film project may also have an opportunity to influence public policy. The gravity of the plight of small farmers has gotten the attention of our politicians in Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D, ME) and Ed Perlmutter, (D, CO), and Congressman Ron Paul, (R, TX) are sponsoring the Congressional screening of Farmaggedon on Capitol Hill. Pingree, who is also an organic farmer, wants her colleagues to see the devastating effects regulatory policies are having on small American farms.
Pingree serves on the Agriculture Committee and recently introduced H.R. 3286, the “Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act”, which reforms agriculture policy to give consumers greater access to local foods, and gives farmers more opportunities. The bill is co-sponsored by 60 of her colleagues in the House, and has also been introduced in the Senate.
Kristin Canty is a member of the nutrition education non-profit, The Weston A. Price Foundation, as well as, The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, whose work defending the rights of farmers and consumers to direct trade inspired the film. Visit the film’s website: FarmageddonMovie.com.
And now, from a report on the New York City screening of Farmageddon, by Laurel on Health (source for lead picture):
“Last week I attended an NYC screening for the new documentary Farmageddon. From the film website: “Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent ac-tion, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.” The movie is very well done and it’s focuses on an important issue that we all need to know more about—the unseen war on family farms.”