The creators of a documentary featuring local farms were back in Chatham to shoot a commercial for PRIDE Seeds.
This time, the location was Grant Craven's farm off Centre Side Rd Wednesday morning. Before the Plate is a documentary focused on how food is produced before it hits the grocery store in an effort to dispel negative rumours.
Producer Dylan Sher said now that people are generations removed from farming they don't know how to ask the right questions about their food.
"The problem is that people don't have a base understanding of agriculture so when they do ask questions, they get incomplete answers," Sher said. "I have seen a lot of nasty documentaries and they are important, but they are a longshot when it comes to how they fit into the system."
Sher said he has sat down with farmers and watched the documentaries to debunk some of the claims. According to the producer, if someone is watching a negative documentary with no farming background, it could be scary and he understands that. He added many of the cases shown are anomalies though.
"Most of them are blown out of proportion, but there are a handful of issues in there," Sher said, "They can be great for a farmer to see because they know the context. If they make a big scary claim a farmer can go 'you know what, I can see how that could become an issue and we have to keep an eye on that.'"
He added if someone with no farming background sees the content, they would be more likely to freak out about it and jump to conclusions. Sher said that situation is exactly what his documentary is trying to prevent. He wants to educate people on how everyday farmers regulate their products.
Apparently, Sher and film director, Sagi Kahane-Rapport, built a solid relationship with local farmers because they were asked to come back and shoot some corporate videos along with the commercial today for PRIDE Seeds, out of Pain Court.
The commercial features a little girl, played by Telsie Jackson of Petrolia, who wants to be a farmer like her father. As she plays with toy farm equipment on a replica version of the farm, it will cut to her dad using the actual equipment.
Sher said the commercial is meant to advance the idea of women becoming farmers as more are entering the industry.
The film itself was premiered last week in Toronto to a sold-out theatre of 500. Sher was very proud of the reception but had no estimation for when it will be available locally. He said it will be available online in some capacity soon and he plans on organizing community screenings as well.
A miniature version of the Craven farm was created to use in the new commercial for PRIDE Seeds. Aug. 15, 2018. (Photo by Greg Higgins)