The Documentary
What it takes to be a farmer, or why you can’t be one.
Filmmaker Devon Cooke sets out to find out why his dream of becoming a farmer seems so impossible. He lives and works on farms across Canada, discovering how farmers survive and healing his broken heart.
He rediscovers a rural way of life that is defies his expectations of a nine-to-five in the city. He is forced to rethink the idea that being wealthy means earning a lot of money. Farmers love their way of life. But does that make it okay that most farmers work off-farm jobs to afford to stay on the land? Can our farmers afford to feed us?
That way of life is threatened by the enormous cost of farmland — far more than farmers can earn. But the successful farmers make farming their life’s work and focus less on the finances.
Now available on Super Channel
The Short Film
The Hands that Feed Us started with a short film in 2017 that followed Arzeena Hamir at Amara Farm.
First and foremost, a farm is a business, but it takes more than just business sense to run a farm. Amara Farm succeeds because it’s a marriage: Love and dedication to the land, and a strong commitment to growing food make it possible to keep going even when the finances don’t add up. Like a marriage, it’s the relationship that counts, and farmer Arzeena Hamir has support from her husband, her children, her in-laws, and a co-op of like-minded farmers. These relationships help her achieve what money alone can’t buy: A successful organic farm. Watch it below:
The Vlog
This is how it all started, Devon documented his journey from farm to farm during the production of the film, sharing his insights as he went across Canada and back. Check the full playlist out below: