[BCFSN] Helping farmers and farmers helping me during COVID-19

[Devon Cooke]

I want to share what I hope will be an inspiring response to coping with 
the economic fallout of COVID-19.  My clientele dried up almost 
overnight — the entertainment industry is definitely *not* an essential 
service.

Rather than sitting on my thumbs, I've decided to take action: I'm going 
farming.  As in, I'm leaving Vancouver and volunteering my labour for 
food and board.  Oh — and I'm finally making the documentary I've been 
talking about for years. That's right, /The Hands That Feed Us 
<https://www.thehandsthatfeedus.ca/>/ is getting made.

I should introduce myself and my project.  I'm Devon, a filmmaker, and 
/The Hands that Feed Us/ is a documentary about how difficult it is for 
Canadian farmers to make a living. It varies from year to year, but 
between half and two thirds of Canadian farmers have off-farm jobs.  I 
find that shocking — how can the people growing our food need a second 
job to support their farm work?  I've been researching why the economics 
of farming are so punishing for the last few years.  And with COVID-19, 
that question has become more critical:  How are farmers going to cope 
in a world with closed borders and collapsing international markets?

Filming /The Hands that Feed Us/ means I'll basically be embedding 
myself on a farm for the next nine months.  The safest way to film 
during a pandemic is to minimize the amount of people and the amount of 
travel.  The best way to do that is for me to live and work on the farms 
where I'm filming.

How is a city boy like me going to cope with farm life?  There's only 
one way to find out…  In all honesty, I'm looking forward to getting my 
hands dirty.  I'm sure the real-life experience of doing farm work will 
benefit the documentary as well.  I've always been a bit nervous 
claiming to speak for farmers when I don't have any farming background.  
I guess I'm changing that!

Want to join me on this journey?  I'll be vlogging about what it's like. 
I recorded my first vlog a couple days ago 
<https://youtu.be/3kgf1k3l9S0>. Follow the YouTube channel 
<http://mailer.thehandsthatfeedus.ca/lists/lt.php?tid=LEVaUQIJBwEOWR4PUA8CSVBWVwIfAwcFBhVRAAcHAFcFDABWBwVJVFpZUg9SW1ZJAQMBAx9VAAVXFVkCBQZPVwdbX1cKAg0IC1ECS1MOV1IBWgdXH1AAUwEVVVEBU08DXAFfSwdUUwNeWFdUAFoKAA> 
for instant updates.  I'll be sending out regular updates via newsletter 
too — sign up here <https://thehandsthatfeedus.ca/join-us/#start>.

My hope is that, by the time COVID-19 subsides, I'll have a documentary 
that can shine a light on how our food system changes as it adapts to 
COVID-19.  And, I hope that's something the BC Food Network can get behind!

-- 
All the best,

Devon Cooke
The Hands that Feed Us
604-321-9706
devon at thehandsthatfeedus.ca <mailto:devon at thehandsthatfeedus.ca>

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