“Common Ground”

Presented by: The Blacksburg Farmers Market, Sustainable Blacksburg, The Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, The Virginia Soil Health Coalition, and The Lyric Theatre

Join us for a free screening of the new documentary Common Ground. followed by an expert panel discussion with a Q&A featuring local farmers and soil scientists. Panelists include Cedric Shannon (Weathertop Farm), JP Walker (Glade Road Growing), Mark Schonbeck (Research Associate with Organic Farming Research Foundation), and Gwynn Hamilton (Stonecrop Farm).

Common Ground is the highly anticipated sequel to the juggernaut success documentary, Kiss the Ground, which touched over 1 billion people globally and inspired the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to put $20 billion toward soil health. By fusing journalistic expose’ with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, Common Ground unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late.