Reviews of From Seed to Seed by Katharina Stieffenhofer
From Seed to Seed took my breath away. I think everyone who eats should see it!
As a professor, I could teach an entire course in regenerative agriculture using nothing more than From Seed to Seed. As a farmer, I know of no documentaries that provide a more honest and clear-cut expose of the emotional territory between hope and despair within which every farmer lives. The farmers portrayed in the film exemplify the paradox created by striving toward nature-based farming while being beaten down by a changing and unpredictable climate and enticed by the easy-way-out offered by industrial agriculture, which destroys nature.
Gary S. Kleppel, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, University at Albany-SUNY, Co-owner, Longfield Farm, Author, The Emergent Agriculture: Farming, Sustainability and the Return of the Local Economy
“From Seed to Seed reveals as much about the meaning of life as the challenges of farming. This compelling documentary centers on a young couple who has chosen farming as a moral, social, and economic way of life-in that order. Their story is juxtaposed with other Manitoba farmers exploring various paths of transition from conventional to organic farming. The story leaves little doubt about whose path is more difficult, but whose path is more fulfilling is a more difficult question. Will farming in the future be a continuing quest for money or a moral expression of purpose and meaning?”
John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri, Author, Small Farms Are Real Farms: Sustaining People through Agriculture
“With honesty and realism the film explores the risks farmers bear year to year, and provides audiences with a raw and unfiltered view of how their food is produced and the decisions farmers must make in the process…We applaud the effort taken in the film to highlight how farmers can help mitigate the effects of climate change through thoughtful, diversified and regenerative production practices. Seed to Seed rightly illustrates how farmers can be part of the solution to our climate crisis.”
Stuart Oke, Youth President, and Katie Ward, President, National Farmers Union of Canada
“From Seed to Seed offers a beautiful portrait about the importance of tradition for creating our future. The film offers us a glimpse at the delicate balance of creating diversity in our genetics, seeds, and communities. For students, the film provides an unbelievable lesson on the value of the small, the local, and the old – not as backwards – but vital and necessary for carving a path forward.”
Paul Stock, Associate Professor, Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of Kansas, Co-Author, New Farmers 2014/2018
“The film gives us an intimate look into the common and individual experiences of farmers…Interspersed among stories about the production of livestock, vegetables, wheat, hemp and flax are sidebars illustrating innovations and techniques – both traditional and new – that farmers use to successfully produce food. Viewers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the skills, knowledge, patience and hard work required to be a farmer and the inevitable tensions that exist in attempting to build a sustainable family business without exploiting themselves in the process.”
Sean Clark, Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Berea College, Co-Editor, Fields of Learning: The Student Farm Movement in North America
“This extraordinary film takes us from a smallholding farmed by newcomers to the large holdings common to Manitoba. In so doing, it shows how organic practices can transform the landscape and provide resilience in light of climate change. From Seed to Seed is an exhilarating and successful demonstration of organic practices on both small and large farms.”
Lawrence Busch, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Michigan State University, Author, Knowledge for Sale: The Neoliberal Takeover of Higher Education
“Informative, beautifully shot…This gentle, quiet advocacy doc possesses some of the philosophical patience seen in its subjects, who need to follow the seasonal cycles of farming and withstand the vicissitudes of Prairie weather.”
Alison Gillmor, Winnipeg Free Press
“A gentle but powerful film that really grew on me as I fell deeply into their story.”
Matthew Gilbert, Cinema Noesis: Films for Evolving Minds
“This is one of the best documentary films about farming that I have watched.”
Dr. Av Singh, Vice-President, Canadian Organic Growers
