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Entries tagged with 'Farming'
Posted Jun. 22, 2007,
The Real Dirt on The Real Dirt on Farmer John
By PAPERMAG Editors
Text and photo by Phil Smrek
For farmer John Peterson, the road to redemption was not though a tunnel with a light at its end, but rather right around the corner. A documentary about his life, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, opening this weekend at the Lincoln Plaza and Quad Cinemas, eloquently tells his tale: a farm boy from the Midwest, who saw the rise, fall and ultimate resurrection of his family farm. At the age of 18 in the mid-'70s, Peterson took charge of his Illinois farm, ascending his tractor with pride and an eccentric flair. While attending a local community college, and running the family business, the farm became a Warhol-ish “factory,” replete with poets, musicians, filmmakers, hangers-on and other assorted artists. It as was an island of creative misfits that had the community talking of devil worship and orgies.
By the early '80s, the party was over. Peterson, like many American farmers at the time, struggled to maintain his farm, and due to collapsed commodity prices and over-extended loans, the bank shut him down. An auction ensued. Peterson was left with a little more than 20 acres of what was once a thriving 350-acre farm. Broken and utterly destroyed, “Farmer John” traveled -- to Mexico and points beyond - and this ultimately resulted in the rebirth of his farm through organic practices and the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) business model. By the mid-'90s, Peterson hit the jackpot when he found himself in the forefront of the “slow food” movement, which he quickly realized was something better than what he had lost.