The Greenhorns: New local food film screens in Stone Ridge and Andes

By Lissa Harris
6/15/11 - 5:13 pm
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If you're invested in the future of farming and local food in upstate New York, you'll want to seize the chance to catch a local screening of "The Greenhorns," a documentary about young farmers out to reclaim American agriculture from the roots up. The film, which just had its NYC premiere last month, will be shown at the Marbletown Community Center in Stone Ridge on Friday evening, and at the Andes Hotel on Saturday.

The Greenhorns themselves are a loose national network some 3,000 strong of "young farmers" (which the Greenhorns website defines, in all seriousness, as farmers "57 years old or fresher," since the average age of the American farmer is 57). They've been filming, producing and fundraising for the film for three years.

Both events will feature a discussion with local farmers and food advocates. At Stone Ridge, the panel will include Aileah Kvashay, Clove Valley CSA; Chris Kelder, Kelder's Farm; Dana Gentile, Darlin' Doe Farm; Ken Greene, Hudson Valley Seed Library; and Jacob Diaz, Esopus Creek Farm.

For the Saturday night showing in Andes, farmer Ken Jaffe of Slope Farms in Meredith will talk about local food. Also on hand to discuss the film will be its charismatic and idealistic maker: Severine von Tscharner Fleming, who comes enthusiastically recommended by the good bloggers at Ethicurean:

Severine likes to call herself a "pixie revolutionary," but she's more like a bike-riding pirate, commandeering the hearts, minds, and available resources of all who she meets. For example, when she and the Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology (SAFE) student group picked 40+ pounds of overripe olives from campus trees, somehow she got me to agree to babysit them in my backyard for two weeks, changing their vats of soaking water daily. She spouts the most obscure facts and gambols through life like a wild-haired, long-legged baby calf at high speed. She's done more in her 20-odd years than I'll ever attempt. Yep, I adore her.

Marbletown Community Center, 3564 Main Street, Stone Ridge. Friday, June 17, 7pm. Suggested donation $10. Part of the Transition Film Series Screening.  /  The Andes Hotel, 110 Main Street, Andes. Saturday, June 18, 7pm. Suggested $10 donation benefits the National Young Farmers Coalition. Sponsored by C-DOG (Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group).