When filmmaker Andrew Beck Grace and his wife Rashmi return to their home state of Alabama, they decide to try living more simply. With both of their family histories populated by farmers, they set out to eat the way their grandparents did—seasonally and locally. They enlist a few friends, embarking on a journey to reconnect with food in ways the industrial agriculture system has broken apart. Referring to his grandfather’s experience leaving the farm in the 1940s, Grace engages with his own naïveté as he discovers that there are few farmers left in Alabama. Encountering the lives of these farmers—most of them struggling to make a living—the story shifts to the current realities of farming in the global economy: a farmer sued by Monsanto, a chicken grower raising over a million chickens a year by himself, as well as young farmers who have embraced sustainable practices and urban farming. A thoughtful and often funny essay on community, the South, and sustainability, EATING ALABAMA is ultimately a story about why food matters.

Awards:

SXSW World Premiere, 2012

Quotes/ Reviews:

"a film that artfully combines one family's story with an in-depth look at a group of small farmers committed to rebuilding the local food system in the South". - Madeline Ross, Grist

"Grace's contemplative voyage through the Alabama food-scape elucidates myriad food issues facing our society today". - Tahria Sheather, Sage Magazine