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Big or Small?

Bullfrog Films • 28m

Directed by Alex Gabbay • Documentary • 2013 • 29 minutes

In the USA alone there are approximately 5 million fewer farmers today than there were in the 1930s. Economies of scale suggests that bigger is better when it comes to feeding a hungry planet. But bigger often requires mechanization and compromise, such as new strains of E. coli bacteria and rising obesity. Often, big also requires growing the same crop varieties.

Many countries are realizing there is a price to "big" that's not factored in at the checkout counter and, as a consequence, a "small farmer" revolution is unfolding in many rich countries including the US. What's the best method of growing food for a hungry population of 9.5 billion people? Big, or small?

Tags
agribusiness, agriculture and food, agroecology, american studies, americas, big agiculture, big or small?, bullfrog films, capitalism, crop variety, crops, doc, expository, farm, farmer, farmers markets, farming, globalization, ifad, jd alexander, journal star, mechanization, mohan munasinghe, nebraska, nebraska farmers union, olivier de schutter, organic and sustainable agriculture, organic farming, ovid, ovid_ca, raj patel, regulation, ron meyer, s_0008, s_0009, s_0105, s_0210, s_0306, s_0603, small farmer, small scale agriculture, the, the prairie and great plains, title_abc, title_b, title_f, un right to food rapporteur, united states, us, valantine achancho, world regions

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