Dirt The Movie
The Center for the Environment at Catawba College and the Bread Riot hosted a successful and ‘sold out’ screening of Dirt! The Movie followed by a panel discussion on Thursday, March 1, at the Center facility on the Catawba campus. Nearly 200 people joined Bread Riot and Center for the Environment for the screening, discussion and local food tasting. The tasting of local foods provided by Bread Riot volunteers was available before the movie and included a variety of wonderful dishes, including chili, meatballs, kale chips, bread and goat cheese, all made from local ingredients.
Dirt! The Movie is an award winning film directed by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book "Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth."
The film looks at the history and current state of soil. The movie's website notes that dirt "recycles our water, gives us food, provides us shelter and can be used as a source of medicine, beauty and culture." While destructive methods of agriculture, mining practices and urban development have endangered the natural resource, the film points out that visionaries throughout the world are coming together to repair the soil.
Panelists discussed the movie and the future of farming after the screening and received numerous questions from the audience. Those on the panel include Jim Graham, farmer and former Davidson County commissioner; Amy Hoffner of Hoffner Farms, a certified organic dairy in Mount Ulla; Aaron Newton, local food system program coordinator for Cabarrus County; Dennis Testerman, manager of Cabarrus County Soil and Water; Sarah Moore, farmer and student environmental leader at Catawba; and facilitator John Wear, executive director of the Center for the Environment.
For more information about Catawba College's Center for the Environment, please visit their web page at www.centerfortheenvironment.org. For more information about how you can become part of Bread Riot and attend events like this in the future, please sign up for our newsletter!