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21 Documentaries to Inspire a Lifetime of Eating
More than 40 hours of documentaries to transform your relationship with every bite you take.
Mitch Hinrichs
February 01, 2024
Entire Food & Farming Documentary List
This is an engaging global exploration of the hopefulness of our food and farming systems. Hear from a conservancy in Kenya, livestock ranchers in Montana, and a seaweed farmer in Connecticut about straightforward and practical solutions to how farming can solve our biggest environmental issues.
Common Ground (Select Theaters)
Common Ground, a sequel to Kiss the Ground, is a heavy hitter, unveiling the dark web of corruption, money, and power behind our broken food system.
The system that benefits a few is destroying the health of our humans and soil. But all is hopeful, as farmers and leaders are actively creating a regenerative future.
Showcasing 5 Native American Tribes, from across the deserts, to the coastlines, amongst forests and prairies as they each practice their traditional land management practices.
They are preserving these traditions and passing them to the next generation.
We have much to learn from Native American Tribes and indigenous communities alike, as their land management practices have created many highly productive and resilient ecosystems worldwide.
This is one of my favorite documentaries I’ve ever watched period.
This short film dives into the rural city of Takachiho, Japan. Where the extreme terrain has forced ingenuity and cooperation that has created a unique blend of agriculture, forestry, conservation and community.
Takachiho is considered a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
For those who haven’t seen this film yet, please do.
I had the opportunity to apprentice at Apricot Lane Farms during the winter of 2022. The farm's team truly walks the regenerative talk.
Their farm is a productive farm nested inside an awakened ecosystem.
But, as the movie portrays, it wasn’t always that way and wasn’t easy.
Molly and John had a vision, combined both of their passions, pursued their dreams, and created the Biggest Little Farm.
It is a timeless film that shows regeneration is possible but requires commitment, grit, and patience.
Kiss the Ground was a blockbuster release about the power of soil and regenerative agriculture in solving our climate change issues.
It clearly portrays agriculture's current role and how adopting regenerative farming can be a viable solution in mitigating the impending climate crisis.
Anything with Michael Pollan is worth watching.
This film is based off of his book (read all of his work) “In Defense of Food”, which is one of the 14 books I think everyone who eats food need to read.
Michael asks a simple question.
“How do we eat healthy?”
Cutting through the dietary noise and finding what truly matters.
He responded, “Eat Food. Not Too Much, Mostly Plants".
Fantastic Fungi takes us into the mysterious and typically unknown world of fungi. It is a fantastic journey of fungi’s role in the environment, the depth of their intelligence as a life kingdom, and why it’s important not to demystify our relationship with mushrooms.
I’ve watched this documentary repeatedly because of the elegant beauty of the cinematography.
Living Soil tells the story of farmers, scientists, and policymakers working to make “soil health” a priority.
The film takes you across the country from the lush west coast fields of Oregon and California, across the vast green acres of the Midwest, to the waterfront around the Chesapeake Bay.
This video just reached 4,000,000 views since its launch. It has been used in classrooms to introduce soil health principles to students.
Honeyland is a reflective film that follows its main character, Hatidze, who lives with her ailing mother in Macedonia. She is making a living cultivating honey using ancient beekeeping traditions from the region.
An excellent reflection on what traditions can teach us and why it’s important to have keepers of them, so we preserve what we’ve gained.
This documentary series details the origin stories of the bold pioneers behind America’s most iconic food empires, such as Kraft, Coke & Pepsi, Hershey, McDonald's, and countless others.
An incredible historical documentary on how food has changed in America in the last 150 years. Albeit a bit cheesy at times, it’s worth a watch.
Meet one of the earliest regenerative organic farming pioneers.
Growing up, this farm was 30 minutes away from my family’s farm in Nebraska, but it wasn’t until later that I had the chance to visit and meet Dave Vetter.
This is his story about their journey of pioneering regenerative organic farming on their family’s farm in Nebraska, despite the lack of neighborly support.
Seaspiracy dives into the lawless and secretive world of our global fisheries.
This documentary unveils the corruption, destruction, and lies perpetrated on consumers about the fish we eat. It will force you to question whether or not it’s “right” to eat seafood at all as it’s currently being run.
Or at least maybe, find ways to support small, local fishermen.
It's a must-watch if you eat seafood.
Seed is an important journey to the core of our agricultural and food foundations, the sacred seed. The global seed market has consolidated, and our global seed sovereignty is at risk.
And not to mention that we’ve lost a significant amount of genetic diversity from the dawn of industrialized agriculture.
Hear from those on the frontlines working to preserve our seeds for empowerment, diversity preservation, and the benefit of humanity.
Sacred Cow is a documentary that advocates for (better) meat, showing pasture-based livestock's nutritional, environmental, and ethical benefits.
Cows and other livestock can be regenerative for the environment and our health. It’s a relief to learn that it truly is the "how,” not the “cow.”
This is a more entertaining documentary produced by celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Travel around the world to see how 1.3 billion tons of food are thrown out each year, and meet the people fighting hardest to prevent it.
Features many successful projects, like South Korea, which has successfully eliminated all of their food waste from their landfills.
Roots So Deep (Coming May 2024)
This is a 4-part documentary that will transform your view of soil, climate, carbon, and your opinion on where livestock fall into the equation for being a force of positive change on the environment.
One crucial question throughout the film is, “Even if managing livestock holistically could be a solution for climate change, soil health, and ecological regeneration, would farmers be willing to change?”
The answers will surprise you and the farmers will inspire you.
This documentary looks at small-scale fishing and the ever-changing nature of the seafood system across the United States. The film explores the dichotomy between the industrial model and sustainable fishing methods focusing on conservation and quality.
And asks the question, “Can the small fisherman exist in modernity?”
If you are unfamiliar with Outstanding in the Field, they have brought the restaurant to the food since 1999, hosting dinners for 100 to 1,000 guests dining together in vineyards, orchards, beaches, meadows, and many other unique locations over the years.
This documentary follows the life of founder Jim Denevan and his journey.
This documentary, ten years in the making, weaves together the most urgent themes of our times: climate change, gender, and racial inequality, the gaps between the rich and the poor, and the ideas that groups around the world have generated in order to save the planet.
Anita Chitaya has a gift; she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, make men fight for gender equality, and end child hunger in her village.
Now, to save her home from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge:
“Persuading Americans that climate change is real.”
The average grocery shopper may be surprised to learn that more than 75% of the fresh fruit consumed in the U.S. depends on farm workers' hand-harvesting.
Despite a rapidly growing $40 billion fresh produce industry, growers fear a viable future as they struggle to find workers to pick the fields. More than $3.1 billion in economic growth is missed yearly as crops rot in fields that cannot be harvested due to complex labor issues and shortages.
The Last Harvest offers a rare glimpse into the critical labor shortage problem in the agricultural industry.
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