The Film | Agriculture in America | Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Sustainability | Eating Locally | Biodynamic and Organic Foods | Sources

The Film

THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN: Filmmaker’s Web Site
Visit the filmmaker’s site.

Angelic Organics
Learn about the people and produce of Farmer John’s organic operation, read ”Farmer John Writes,” find out about this season’s projects and more.

NPR: An Icon In His Own Field: Farmer John
Read a brief synopsis of the film and view the film trailer on the Fresh Air site.

Collective Eye, inc.
Visit the Web site of the non-profit organization that produced THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN and whose goal is to "unearth stories to make a difference."

Agriculture in America

Growing a Nation: A History of American Agriculture
View a comprehensive timeline about American farm history, by decade or by theme, provided by the USDA’s Agriculture in the Classroom.

Farm Aid
Learn about the work done by this well-known farm advocacy organization spearheaded by musician/activist Willie Nelson.

The New American Farmer, 2nd Edition: Profiles of Agricultural Innovation
Read profiles of 14 innovative American farmers, from Alaska to Arkansas from the USDA’s project Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Sustainability

In Context: Eating For Your Community
This 1995 article by U.S. CSA movement founder Robyn Van En traces the history of the model from Japan to America.

Defining Community Supported Agriculture
What is community agriculture? Read an excerpt from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): An Annotated Bibliography and Resource Guide.

The New Farm: The History of Community Supported Agriculture
Read this two-part article that examines the birth of the CSA movement in the United States and the potential of CSA farms—including Angelic Organics—and the model’s new wave of development.

Cornell University: Discovering the Food System: A Primer on Community Food Systems
What’s at stake in the world of CSAs? Learn how “community food systems offer an alternative to our current approach to meeting our daily food and nutrition needs and promises several social, environmental and economic benefits.”

USDA: Sustainable Agriculture Research
Learn more about sustainability and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, which helps advance community supported farming systems.

PBS: A Sustainable Future: What is Sustainable Agriculture?
This overview by UC Davis Professor Gail W. Feenstra explores current practices in sustainable agriculture and the “complex, reciprocal and ever-changing relationship between agricultural production and the broader society.”

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
Get current information on sustainable agriculture and organic farming news and events and download publications on a multitude of subjects for maintaining sustainable farms.

Redefining Progress: Sustainability Indicators
This organization works on measuring the ecological impact or “Footprint” associated with human activities and helps shape. Read their report: Eating Up The Earth: How Sustainable Food Systems Shrink Our Ecological Footprint (PDF) and find out how sustainability can help the “shrink humanity’s food Footprint to a size the Earth can support.”

Eating Locally

Eating Local: A Matter of Integrity
Why eat local? Sustainable agriculture scholar John Ikerd outlines some reasons why in this essay.

Mother Earth News: Join the Real Food Revival!
Read this overview of the “Real Food movement,” how it came to be and what it is today. Get links to farmers markets and organizations involved in bringing sustainable food to the table.

LocalHarvest
Visit this site to find out how to support your local community farmers: find a CSA program, farmer’s market or food co-op near you.

Food Routes
Get the latest information on connecting with local farmers and learn the benefits of consuming locally.

SlowFood.com
Learn more about the international slow food movement and how it supports sustainability worldwide.

Chefs Collaborative
This national network includes members of the food community who promote sustainable cuisine. Resources include information on sustainable meat and seafood, antibiotics on the farm and more.

Sustainable Table: Eat Well Guide
Enter your zip code and find resources on organic and sustainable food and browse local listings for like-minded farms, restaurants and stores.

USDA: Farmer’s Markets
Find a farmer’s market near you, or browse listings by state.

Biodynamic and Organic Foods

Organic Consumers Association: All About Organics
Read articles from the OCA’s Resource Center on organic farming, labeling and standards and get links, directories and resources from this grassroots public interest organization working for health, justice and sustainability.

Organic Trade Association
Get facts, resources, policy news and more from this association for the organic business community in North America.

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Learn about biodynamic farming at the Web home of this organization that strives to “foster, guide, and safeguard the biodynamic method of agriculture” and read an article about the work and philosophy of biodynamics pioneer Rudolf Steiner.

Sources
The following served as information sources for several pages on this site: