Mark Kitchell follows up A FIERCE GREEN FIRE with EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC, which brings us the story of organic agriculture, told by those who built the movement. A motley crew of back-to-the-landers, spiritual seekers and farmers’ sons and daughters rejected modern chemical farming and set out to invent organic alternatives. The movement grew from a small band of rebels to a cultural transformation in the way we grow and eat food. By now organic has mainstreamed, become both an industry oriented toward bringing organic to all people, and a movement that has realized a vision of sustainable agriculture.
This is not just a history, but looks forward to exciting and important futures: the next generation who are broadening organic; what lies “beyond organic”; and carbon farming and sequestration as a solution to climate change — maybe the best news on the planet.
The film is divided into four “acts”.
Act I: Origins – Looks at the beginning of the organic movement in California when the 60s counter-culture moved back to the land.
Act 2: Building Organic – Follows the development of increasingly effective organic farming techniques concentrating on the soil and the microbial life within it.
Act 3: Mainstreaming Organic – Organic booms, growing 20% annually for two decades.
Act 4: Organic Futures – The next generation of organic farmers as well as carbon farming and sequestering carbon dioxide hold out great hope for combating climate change.