The Real Dirt on The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Happy 4th of July everyone (or at least all two of you that read my blogs!).

We had the happy honor of hosting Farmer John Peterson in Ojai for a special screening of the documentary of his life, "The Real Dirt on Farmer John". We screened it at the historical little Ojai Playhouse June 30 and July 1 (sponsoring organizations were Food For Thought Ojai, the Ojai Film Society and Slow Food Ojai/Ventura). Farmer John came out for Q&A after the film, and on both evenings, he received a standing ovation. Steve Grumette of the Ojai Film Society said he's never seen that happen over the decade or so that he's been showing films. We followed the Sunday screening with a special dinner at Ironpan Bistro featuring locally grown produce and sea bass from the Channel Islands (caught with hook and line). It was a terrific event, and I hope you have an opportunity to catch this film if it comes to your neighborhood.

"The Real Dirt on Farmer John" is getting rave reviews (New York Times, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, to drop a few names). Despite this, it hasn't gotten the play in theaters that it deserves. Check out this blog on the Huffington Post, that discusses the film: "Why Isn't The Real Dirt Cleaning Up?" . Then again the film also opened the same weekend as Sicko and Ratatouille--two films I want to catch.

The Real Dirt offers us some hope in making our food and ag systems get on the right track in the US--a track that will also help alleviate the twin terrors of global warming and the growing health crisis associated with obesity.

But do enjoy those grilled hotdogs and hamburgers today!