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| Farmer John Peterson at work at his farm, now called Angel Organics. The story of how Peterson almost lost his farm is shown in the documentary, "The Real Dirt on Farmer John." (Image courtesy of Angel Organics) |
Farmer John lost much of that farm during the farm crisis of the 1980s. Then his neighbors started spreading rumors he was a satanist. All this is chronicled in a new documentary, "The Real Dirt on Farmer John," which opens in Minnesota this weekend.
St. Paul, Minn. — In "The Real Dirt on Farmer John," we meet John Peterson this way.
He walks across a muddy field. He crouches and grabs a handful of sodden dirt. Staring intently, he squashes it through his fingers. Then he lifts it to his mouth and takes a bite.
"Soil tastes good today," he says.
John Peterson is in his 50s now, a muscular balding man who admits he has always had problems keeping girlfriends, because his first love is his farm.
Peterson's mom began using a Super-8 camera to film farm life when he was 2 years old. Later he took over the camera, and kept shooting through his college hippie years.
Then in the 1980s, a filmmaker named Taggart Siegal turned up at the Peterson place. Siegal was making documentaries about the farm crisis. Over the years he kept coming back to Peterson to see how things were going.
In the '90s, as the farm started coming back, they realized they had enough to make a full length feature documentary. The film is being released this weekend.
MPR's Euan Kerr talked with Farmer John Peterson about his life and the film. To listen to their interview, choose the audio link in the right column.
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