“Farm-City, State” filmmaker David Barrow
The Taste Trekkers Food & Travel Expo returns to Providence for its second year on October 3-5. In addition to the in-depth culinary session, tasting pavilion, and citywide scavenger hunt, this year’s expo will feature the New England premiere of the film Farm-City, State. This documentary sets out to answer the question, “Can Austin feed itself?” Along the way, he examines the role that farmers, chefs, and food producers play in bringing your meal to the table.
David Barrow is the filmmaker behind Farm-City, State. We asked him a few questions.
1. What were you setting out to do with the documentary Farm-City, State?
My goal was to document a city (Austin) in the middle of its massive growth towards local food production. Austin was learning what other cities have done — San Francisco, Brooklyn, Portland — and making the decision its own to grow and produce food, but with their own relative issues. I was also hoping to showcase how close a city could come to actually producing, serving and eating their own locally grown foods.
2. What was the most surprising thing you learned along the way?
The most surprising thing I learned was how strong the food community actually is in Austin. Producers speak with chefs and the public, chefs speak with cheese producers and meat producers, and the public has a familial tone with everyone. people are ‘family’ to each other and everyone seems to genuinely want each other to succeed.
3. Why should foodies go see this film?
Foodies should go see the film because it captures a moment in time of Austin – quickly becoming a foodie capital in the United States, with a wealth of talent, a wealth of resources, and a great attitude about it all.
4. Was there any great footage that didn’t make it into the final edit?
There was tons of great footage that did not make the final cut – but my personal favorite was Carol Ann Sayle from Boggy Creek Farm speaking about how she and her husband Larry Butler starting selling produce in front of an old liquor store in West Austin years before the first farmers market in Austin. People would stop and ask about the produce on their way by. Carol Ann would mention the vegetables would be good for dinner and the fruit would be great in the morning after whatever they picked up at the liquor store that night.
5. What other projects are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on True Beef: From Pasture to Plate – in post production with a premiere scheduled for late 2014. I am also working on a series of ‘Food as Art’ short docs.
Farm-City, State will premiere at the Cable Car Cinema on Sunday, October 5th at 4pm. Tickets are included with admission to the Taste Trekkers Expo and Scavenger Hunt, and will also be available at the door for $5.
For more information on the Taste Trekkers Food & Travel Expo, please visit http://tastetrekkers.com/expo/.
