The Future of Organic in Ventura County: Film Screening and Talk
Evolution of Organic Followed by Panel and Reception
Sunday, November 11, 1 pm, Ojai Art Center
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition will screen a new documentary, Evolution of Organic, followed by a panel discussion with some of the valley’s best-known farmers and county professionals on the subject of the future of organic agriculture in Ventura County. A reception will follow in the Gallery, featuring light organic refreshments and exhibit booths for environmental groups.
Leading the discussion will be documentary filmmaker and agricultural activist Dulanie Ellis. A long-time resident of Ojai, she said her abiding interest in agriculture and its people motivated her film career. Along with her co-producer, Raymond Singer, Ellis produced and directed the award-winning documentary, Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields, about combat veterans transitioning from the military into organic farming and ranching.
Working on that film, she learned that agriculture will need hundreds of thousands of young farmers to replace older growers facing retirement. Half of American farmland will transfer ownership in the next twenty years, and the question is will it go to big agri-corporations, who have a history of poisoning the land, or will it go to rebuilding soils and biodiversity through regenerative methods.
Evolution of Organic tells the story of how farmers and consumers, beginning in the 1960’s, awoke to the dangers of pesticides and herbicides, and set out to create a new market for fruits and vegetables grown without chemicals. The documentary charts the rise of the organic movement, it’s struggles to go mainstream and safeguard the organic label, and points the direction for the future of a sustainable, restorative food system that can play a significant role in mitigating climate change.
Panelists include Mark Kitchell, the film’s director; John Krist, CEO of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, Ben Faber, of the UC Cooperative Extension, Patty Pagaling, of Transition to Organic advocacy group in Ojai, as well as prominent organic grower Jim Churchill, of Churchill Orchards.