Lilac Ridge: Life on a Family Farm (2011)

Lilac Ridge is a small, third-generation Vermont family farm. Once strictly a dairy operation, the current generation of farmers has made a lot of changes at the farm. For one thing, they have diversified. What was once a dairy farm is now also an organic vegetable-growing, direct-to-restaurants wholesaling, cut-flower-supplying, farm stand-purveying, egg-producing, farmers' market-retailing operation. They have also transformed the farm to attain certified organic status. Vermont's landscape and climate have not allowed for super-sized farming, which positions the state to implement many current ideas about how sustainable agricultural practices could transform food production and distribution in this country. Lilac Ridge is one farm where that is happening. Their deeply felt beliefs and astute observational insights influence every frame of the film.