There is something woven into the heart of the films I’ve been watching, the articles I’ve been reading and some of the people I’ve been talking to about their family farms, ranches or fishing businesses. They are bringing food to our table, but that’s only part of it. Their hearts beat with their connection to the land, the air and the water. In growing crops, raising animals and fishing, a lifestyle is created, building a relationship with nature… their well of passion.
The opening scene in the documentary ” The Real Dirt on Farmer John” is, John Peterson picking up a handful of dirt, taking a bite of it and commenting, “The dirt tastes good today.” I thought this guy is really weird, but I kept watching as farmer John told his story about growing up on the family farm in northern Illinois during the 50’s.
His grandfather had bought 360 acres of farmland in the depression (1930’s), so John was third generation farming the family land. Like most family farms of that era, they had some crops, had some chickens, beef and dairy, the kids were all in 4-H club. He recalled how farming was always a struggle, kind of a gamble, because while everyone worked hard at it, there was always too much or not enough rain or there were pests or diseases that would affect the farms productivity at times. But family farms were just that, family and community working together. When planting or harvest time came around, family and neighbors all came together to help each other out. Community was ever present, sharing common values and goals as they worked together to achieve them.
Starting when John was a young child, his father always showed him how to do things on the farm, like fix machinery or tend to the cows; he liked the rhythm of milking the cows and swinging the pails. Unfortunately, John’s father died young, when John was just 18, so then the 360 acre farm was John’s responsibility, with mom and two sisters.
The dairy income allowed him to go to a nearby college after high school as he continued working the family farm. His new college friends felt the farm was a sanctuary, moved onto it and as John said, ” They were city people who wanted to get close to the land but didn’t know what to do with it”. They had never used a pitch fork in their lives, John couldn’t imagine that.
I won’t tell you the whole story because I think you will really enjoy seeing it. John is a great story teller, he had me laugh and cry with him in his journey as a farmer. What I especially loved about his story was the elements of passion to the lifestyle and connection to the land that I mentioned earlier. He said his destiny in life was to care for the land. Without it, without the animals, and the machinery with which to work the land, he felt felt he was a failure and very alone. For him, being a farmer gave meaning to his life.