Telluride Film Fest presents Sunday at The Palm: “The Real Dirt on Farmer John,” March 29, 4 p.m.

27 Mar Telluride Film Fest presents Sunday at The Palm: “The Real Dirt on Farmer John,” March 29, 4 p.m.

[Click the "play" button and listen to Telluride Film Fest's education coordinator/local liaison Erika Gordon discussing the importance of "The Real Dirt"]

The image on the cover of his cookbook, "The Real Dirt on Vegetables," says it all: Farmer John Peterson is posed with a pitchfork like the man in Grant Wood's signature portrait "American Gothic" –  only Farmer John is also wearing a bright red boa.

Farmer John, who, by his own admission, is also Farmer " Elton" John, is a wise and wacky human being working to change the world one seed at a time with Angelic Organics, his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in rural Illinois.

Filmmaker Taggert Siegel's award-winning docudrama (over 30 festival honors), "The Real Dirt on Farmer John,"  spans 55 years, beginning with Farmer John's childhood, and then covering the failure of his conventional farming operation, the dark period that followed, and finally the farm's – and farmer's – rebirth.

What had been a haven for hippies, artists, and political radicals in the late-1960s, a target of rumors and arson in the 1980s, became a haven of free expression and a model for revolutionary agriculture in rural America.

The New Community Coalition's director/coordinator Kris Holstrom is the special guest. She will come armed with a list of local CSAs.

Kris would like to remind everyone that she is available to help with any farming or food growing issues this spring and summer, and that field trips to her Tomten Farm operation are available soon.
Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery and The Buckhorn Garden Growing Dome,   are other great potential field trips. 
Kris' email address is: kholstrom@gmail.com.

The film will show at the Palm, Sunday, March 29, 4:00 pm.