Each day, we eat. Whether it is grabbing a cereal bar from the cabinet, eating alone in a moving car, or, hopefully, sitting down to a home-cooked meal with family and friends, 310 million of us, as Americans, eat together.

Often, our minds are racing with thoughts, perhaps bills that need to be paid, an upcoming test, or the excitement of a conversation wit a new friend. Often, we eat meals, distracted, without reflecting on the people who dedicate their lives to putting food on our plate, farmers. Without reflecting on what we are grateful for.

In our culture, farmers are underpaid and under-appreciated. It's time, we change this. It's time we celebrate the work of these humble, vital people. Thank you, to all of America's farmers.

Friday April 12th, American Meat premiered theatrically in New York City. To pay tribute to our farmers, we decide to make farmers the guests of honor, to have these stars of our documentary be dropped off on a tractor, instead of a limo, to have them walk a grass carpet in place of a red one...

Endings, at least on this end, almost always seem muted. Hushed. 

We got word Venango was cancelled so we slept until we woke. Drove out to Allegheny College the last stop on our tour. Spring had kind of arrived, especially after the recent memories of snow in Buffalo and the frigid air of Little Falls a couple long weeks back. 

We got to the campus with a couple hours to spare, and found parking after a little search. Andy and I sitting a foot apart in that small black Ford Focus rental car, talking, and laughing and listening and sitting silent. We probably spent 100 days together straight, and it must be said it was spent well. Andy's a good man, quiet, respectful, and with a heart of pure good intention. A talented cinematographer, and observer, a committed brother, son, boyfriend and citizen. Of course, the last few hours were mostly delirium, a sort of disbelief that our days on the road were actually reaching conclusion. 

We were greeted by the very positive Megan King, who hosted the event, along with a nice, tall fellow, who's name escapes. 

At the end of a long journey, there's some deep need for a takeaway, a resolution. And yet, I often find, that those moments when one is traveling home, and the following days, are filled only with exhaustion. It's as if our body, and mind knows how much we can take, and we push ourselves to that limit, and when we know a return home is imminent, our reflections, our purpose and our wisdom evaporates coalesced into one final push for home. 

We drove 6 hours across Pennsylvania, listening to stand-up comedy and music until getting caught in a 1am traffic jam crossing through Manhattan. Home. 

Thursday morning we met at Southern Huntingdon Co. HS and screened the film for Ms. Sellers and the ag students out there. We had incredibly short periods because of a scheduling snafu, which meant that Chris and I were talking quickly, or not much at all. 

We shared a breakfast at a diner, the only restaurant for miles, and it was a good breakfast, I had buckwheat pancakes. Chris, Andy and I have shared some great times the last couple years on the road, and we talked and laughed and learned as we always do. Chris jumped back in the car and headed home to NJ, as Andy and I headed out for our last shoot, with a young farmer who focuses on manure hauling. 

Worn down by months on the road, the last days were often filled with nonsensical humor, the absurd laughter only the weary can muster. 

Chris, the young farmer, cut stalks from the corn field, in preparation for planting in a few short weeks. We interviewed him, 3 five-gallon buckets flipped over, in the soft light of a cavernous barn with open doors. 

He loves farming, just like most farmers do, and works with his Dad, hauling manure, and hay. He supports GMOs because they feed the world, and more than anything, likes the fact that he is his own boss. He mentioned Elk Creek Bar, a local food music joint that we'll hit up for sure next time we're around. 

We drove out to Washington & Jefferson, where we had a wonderful evening, hosted by Anthony, and with a transformative panel of farmers, food service professionals and of course, the good people who joined the discussion. It went on for well over an hour, as we talked about the local food movement, and there was a lot of goodwill in the room.

730 am found us at Williamsport HS in PA. Nicole, the very welcoming, warm AgEd instructor there greeted us and gave us a tour of the FFA chapter greenhouse as the film screened for a class of 25 or so. The greenhouse, filled with seedlings, is yet another example of an FFA chapter that generates revenue to support itself. Makes sense. 

Chris was stuck in traffic, but got there in time for the post-screening conversation. It was a good conversation, one that took a surprising turn when the subject of fracking came up. Fracking is a process of extracting gas from the ground. Many critics of the process point out that it leads to a contaminated water source, or that in some places, it is claimed to have caused earthquakes. On the flip side, it provides a domestic energy source, and a few of the students in the class were there because their parents worked in town with the gas companies fracking the area. 

We were amazed to hear that some folks were getting 250K per month of royalties from the profits of the wells on their land. This sudden boom has changed a lot of the area, an economic jolt, and a burden on the police station, too. The recent moratorium on fracking in NY state shows how government policy can totally shift the economics of a region, and the environmental health. In the classroom, there were mixed emotions about fracking. One thought that was shared, is that we have had a mindset of take, take, take from the Earth, and we need to shift to a mindset of restorative cycles. 

We drove to Clearfield where we met w/ Ms Carr and about 40 students over two periods. Students seemed a bit distracted, although a few perked up when talking about a desire to go into veterinary medicine. 

We met Chris in the parking lot of W.B. Saul High School, which is in the city limits of Philadelphia. Surprisingly, it has a massive plot of land and a fully functioning farm. A model for other FFA chapters to replicate.

We entered, going through the daily ritual of checking in at the main office of schools. This involves a name tag, a call to the teacher, and usually an escort from a student through the hallways to the appropriate school room. 

Tiffany, the AgEd instructor, met us at the front desk, after a bit of waiting. We walked the school to the classroom where about 20 kids watched the documentary, Chris and I, walking to the front of the room incrementally beginning conversations about what we watched. 

After the screening, we were giving a tour by Doc, a retired dentist who volunteers at the school. The farm is many many acres, and the educational activities are impressive. There's a dairy that supplies Land O' Lakes, and you have the odd and heartwarming mix of rural and urban cultures. The full time staff of the farm are from rural areas, the students from Philly. 

We saw the composting system, the meat science lab, where students actually broke down sides of beef- raised on the farm- and then sell it retail to the community. 

There's the CSA, that is a joint partnership of the local co-op, and some non-profits, and the school. There's just so much good happening, much of it from volunteers. It can be at times chaotic, as Doc points out, and with any endeavor that's driven by education, and not monetary gain, there are often inefficiencies. 

We said goodbyes and headed to a wonderful local sourcing restaurant in Philly, the White Dog, a restaurant at the forefront of local food in Philly for decades. 

In the evening we were hosted at UPenn by Prof. Anne Barnhill, an intimate gathering of about 40. The post screening conversation was really incredible, Victor Galli, is a young vegan activist who was very very impressive. He talked about how  corn and soy are referred to as "Produce" and how vegetables and fruit are referred to as "Specialty Crops". These fruits and vegetables make up 15% of the food grown in America, and yet receive .1% of government subsidies. 

What will our agricultural system look like in 2020? It's hard to predict what anything will look like 7 years from now let alone something as fraught with uncertainty as agriculture. A lot can happen in 7 years especially given the rapidly growing pace of technology. With the birth of the Internet came the ability to share and gain insight into unknown topics at exceedingly fast speeds. It's nice to dream of a world where food is grown a few miles away and you can buy it at the convenience store up the street. This might seem like a distant dream but if our Young Farmer Screening Series has shown us anything, it's that this is in fact a reality. It's probably a lot easier to find biodynamically raised beef in large metropolitan areas like NYC, Los Angeles and Chicago but the local food movement is spreading rapidly throughout our great land.

Mr. Salatin doesn't really lean one way or the other when asked this question. He offers his hopes for our agricultural system but doesn't give a solid opinion. The resources are at our fingertips, literally. There may only be one Polyface Farms out there but similarly run operations are popping up all throughout the country. It truly is up to us as consumers to help give this movement the momentum it needs to take on big agriculture. I've been living in New York City for a little over a year and I can sense the changes in the way people seek out and acquire food. In the small Florida town where I grew up, farmers markets and CSAs are sprouting up left and right. This may not seem like a big deal but before I moved to NYC those such things were nowhere to be found.

People are hungry for change and when that change happens, embrace it. If a farmers market pops up in your town, go out of your way to meet the folks that help make it happen. The people who put it on do it out of love. There is a multitude of different online and offline resources available that can help make the local food movement more than a movement- a way of life. If we cement local food into our daily routines agriculture will start changing fast. Our film and our message are about community. It's about understanding and becoming a part of an amazing movement that can change our country for the better. When posed with the question, 'What will agriculture look like in 2020?', let's punt on answering it like Joel, let's just go out and show what it will look like in 2020. That can be our answer.

Got up and drove to Karl family farms, a first generation farm. 

We got up and drove to Madison, where we were greeted by Julia, the young FFA instructor there. We had two class periods to show select scenes, and then have conversations with the students. 

If you sat down and had a conversation with every farmer in the world asking what inspired them to get into farming, no two answers would be the same. Just as no two paths into farming are the same. Sure, there would be some common themes in the answers but each story would be as different and inspirational as the last.

After further reflection on many of the young farmers we have interviewed throughout the Young Farmer Screening Series, passion seems to be what drives almost all of the farmers we have spoken with. There are various inspirations thrown in there (family, kinship with the land, desire to better the surrounding world) but passion is definitely the main motivation. Waking up early every morning to get your hands dirty and work hard is a pursuit driven by love. Farming isn't typically something you go into for the money which speaks even more to the fact that people do it because they love it. Whether it's something that has been driving you since childhood or you shot straight up in bed at 55 years old and knew farming was your calling, there is almost something ethereal about the draw to the land.

John Leimburger is no different with respect to what drew him to farming. He began reading books on farming, specifically the Omnivore's Dillmea, and was inspired to try his hand at it. He was already growing some lettuce and tomatoes on his 36 square foot plot of land in Pittsburgh so his curiosity was piqued. Raising cattle in Pittsburgh, however, is no easy task so John set out to get a herd of Red Poll Cattle that could be raised by a farmer friend of his from the Farmer's Market. Just like that a farming match was made.

Not your typical introduction into farming but John is doing it and couldn't be happier. He is fully immersed in where his food comes from and is able to help out a local farmer in the process. The importance isn't why you farm, it's just that you farm. Whether you grow tomatoes in your urban garden, have an entire back yard full of animals or purchase from your local farmers market every week, getting out there and doing it is what truly matters.