Changing Hands: Land in Transition
by Amanda Broder-Hahn, MVA 2019
Bill and Barbara Spencer have been farming together at Windrose Farm in Paso Robles for 30 years. Like 80% of American small-family farmers, they are over the age of 58. They also find it necessary to have a full-time source of income separate from the farm in order to keep up with bills, like another 80% of small-family farmers in the US.
Both have long been engaged in what they consider to be the political act of farming as sustainably as possible. They rotate crops, make compost, and practice a style of diversified farming that is more labor-intensive than the methods currently practiced on a large scale in America. Bill and Barbara, and many other small family farmers like them, see farming on a small scale as a way to grow food while nurturing the soil rather than depleting it—while also growing a community.
Now in their mid-seventies, they have been working toward passing their legacy and land along for years—but as they run out of money and the physical capacity to continue working as hard as they do, this aspect of their work becomes increasingly urgent. Through interview and observational footage, this film demonstrates their values at work, and the value this work creates as well as the challenges inherent in preparing to pass on such a legacy.
Running time: 27 minutes