Giving Compass' Take:

• Food Tank highlights the beautiful documentary, Farmsteaders, that through its storytelling connects audiences to the highs and lows to life on the Nolan family dairy farm.

• This documentary is an opportunity to redirect money from CEOs of major food conglomerates and instead support that family farm down the road.

Here's one farm's quest to save industrial dairy farming and agriculture. 


The new documentary Farmsteaders delves into the past, present, and future of dairy farming in the United States. Over a span of five years, Director Shaena Mallett follows Nick and Celeste Nolan and their four children as they produce milk and cheese in rural Ohio.

Farmsteaders reflects the challenges and realities small scale producers confront on a daily basis, highlighting the fine balance between prosperity and failure. “The dairy industry is complicated—fraught with animal welfare issues, environmental issues—and can just be downright brutal on the people working hard to keep the lights on,” Mallett tells Food Tank. “We are in a time of climate crisis, and we need to learn from the folks who are thinking forward by looking back at traditional methods of animal grazing and land stewardship. The Nolans work hard to keep their cows on grass, staying mindful that the health of the soil and the health of the animals is everything”.

Read the full article on Farmsteaders documentary by Pauline Munch at Food Tank.