OCCUPY THE FARM tells the story of 200 urban farmers who walk onto a publicly owned research farm and plant it with two acres of crops in order to save the land from becoming a real-estate development.
The film captures an intense conflict over one piece of land. Compelling characters on both sides of the battle create a remarkable narrative in which community members employ an ingenious strategy to confront a powerful institution in the effort to preserve public land for urban farming.
From preparing the soil to police raids, from lawsuits to overflowing harvests, OCCUPY THE FARM reveals a determined community responding with a direct action to address a major social need: healthy food and access to public land.
“From the moment I arrived on the Gill Tract I knew that this was an important story and that the farmer’s strategy was new, unique and hopeful. I am fortunate that these historic events played out in front of our cameras over the weeks and months that we followed them. It was like catching lightening in a bottle.”
Todd Darling, Director