Video: From Grass To Cheese
We were sent this trailer today for an ongoing documentary called “From Grass To Cheese” – about a dairy farming family in Ohio.
From Grass to Cheese Trailer from Milk Products on Vimeo.
The farm’s web site is charming with sayings like “Don’t be a nerd eat a cheese curd” and “Make it a party with our havarti”, and the farmers “manifesto” paints a vivid picture of why farmers farm:
I believe in freedom, freedom to work the soil and care for the land, and freedom to worship as I please.
I believe a man’s greatest possession is his dignity, and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.
I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person’s character.
I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on this earth.
I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned no other way.
I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth and maturity in such a variety of ways.
I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free; the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring.
I believe true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children growing tall in the sun, your whole family feeling the pride that springs from their shared experience.
I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world then I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men.
I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellow men, and by this standard I fear no judgment.
I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he has lived.
I believe in farming, because it makes all this possible.
And for this we are thankful.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Women can be farmer’s too. It’s a fantastic manifesto, it should just be more inclusive. Life is measured ultimately by what you have done for your fellow men and women. When a woman grows old and sums up her days, she should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life she has lived. Farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a woman can also spend her days on this earth. Women are farmers. Men are farmers. Humans are farmers.
December 5th, 2009 at 10:48 am
This story is truly inspiring and reminds me very much of The Shy Brothers Farm in Westport MA. Cheese literally saved the family farm back in 2006. Educated consumers are what is going to save the farms and farmland from the giant corporations and factory farming. YAY!! for the little guys. Knowing where your food is coming from and who is growing it is not just a passing trend, it’s a must. And I am damn proud to be part of it.