From the Ground Up Trailer

This in-progress film features FTN co-author Amy Franceschini. Check out the trailer:

“From the Ground Up” is an upcoming documentary that showcases the lives and gardens of urban farmers in three cities, comparing and contrasting them with the Victory Garden movement of WWII. A Sacramento teacher engages her sons in taking on City Hall to fight for their front yard garden; a Puerto Rican community in post-industrial Massachusetts works to elevate their quality of life by farming in once abandoned lots; a team of San Franciscans create a Victory Garden in the Civic Center, donating the produce to food banks and transforming the function of public land. These seemingly dissimilar stories all demonstrate one thing: the simple act of planting an edible garden feeds more than just one need. During WWI and WWII Americans grew food in backyards, on balconies, in parks, wherever they could. At their peak, these gardens yielded 40% of the produce consumed in the US. The government localized food production to conserve scarce fuel, vehicles and labor. Today our concerns are different, and relate more to ecology, economic independence and health, but urban farming is still an exceptionally appropriate response. The movie it currently in the editing stage and in need of additional funding.