What is The Hands That Feed Us?

The Hands That Feed Us is a documentary film about what it takes to be a farmer, or why you can't be one. The documentary is on tour across Canada with a goal of hosting 250 screenings and discussions in rural communities.

Bringing The Hands That Feed Us to your community is a way to meet your neighbours, raise an issue in your community, and figure out what to do about it together.

Documentary

The Hands That Feed Us is a feature-length documentary that visits five different farms across Canada. Can our farmers afford to feed us? Click to learn more about the film as well as ways to watch and share it with your friends and neighbours.

Tour

The Hands That Feed Us is on tour across Canada for a year. The goal is 250 discussions — one every weekday. I'll be recording one town hall per week to make a podcast, so click to learn more, and sign up to get notified when it launches.

Mission

"The Canadian economy used to be owned by local families, people in your community, and over time, what we've seen is that's shifted to transnational corporations: The hardware store isn't owned by your neighbour any more, it's owned by Home Depot." — Darrin Qualman

The mission for The Hands That Feed Us is to rebuild Canada's economy and make sure it's owned by ordinary Canadians. If we want to sustain our local farmers, we need to rebuild our local grocers, local distributors, and our local communities. And it starts with gathering together and talking about it.

History

2016

The Hands That Feed Us started as a conversation with my girlfriend as we were driving from Saskatoon to Innisfail, Alberta. We picked up a copy of a reputable farming magazine and I read a statistic that floored me: Two-thirds of farmers have second jobs. My reaction was: "How could that be? If anyone should earn a decent living, it should be the farmers growing our food."

2017

As the conversation progressed, we decided to make a documentary that could show people how hard it was to make a living as a farmer. We started with one farmer and a short film that would be a proof-of-concept for a larger documentary, and at the end of 2017, we completed The Hands That Feed Us: Amara Farm. Also at the end of 2017, my girlfriend finished farm school, and instead of starting a farm, she departed to McGill University to do a Master's in Soil Science. Our conversation about making money as a farmer had made the prospect of farming for a living very daunting!

2020

In 2020, I was a sound recordist in the film industry. I was busy. Until COVID arrived, everything shut down, and I was left with a choice: I could sit on my thumbs and wait for everything to open up, or I could finish the documentary I'd been talking about since 2016. I called up Arzeena Hamir at Amara Farm, and asked: "Could I come live & work on your farm in the middle of a pandemic? And, by the way, can I make a film about it?" Her response was "How soon can you start?" So, on April 15th, 2020, I packed everything into my hatchback and for the next eight months, I lived and worked on five farms across Canada, starting on Vancouver Island, and ending in Nova Scotia.

2021–2025

In January 2021, as I sat down to edit the film, I told my producer: "I think I can get the film done in six months, so let's say a year just in case." Five years later, on Canada Day in 2025, I did the final export of the film, and took my first break in six years.

2026

On March 3rd, I embarked on a second cross-Canada trip. This time, I moved into a motorhome that my aunt named "T-Rex", and was much more prepared to live on the road for a year. The Hands That Feed Us was officially On Tour.

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Support the tour

The Hands That Feed Us: On Tour is made possible by donations, screening & facilitation fees, merch sales, sponsorship, an optimistic grant application, and Devon's headstrong determination to ignore financial consequences and just do it.

If you believe in the tour and want to chip in, become a supporting member.