Newsletters

The Hands that Feed Us: On tour at last!

April 14th, 2026

  • Update from the road
  • Where I've been
  • Where to next
  • Vlog On Tour
  • Watch the film
  • Follow the tour
  • Host a screening

Update from the Road

Hello from The Farm with the Good Food, on the outskirts of Red Deer, Alberta. This is one of the five farm I featured in The Hands that Feed Us, and last night, I showed Susan Manyluk, the film for the first time. Susan took a leap of faith on me when I called her out of the blue in 2020 and told her I wanted to come live on her farm for a month in the middle of the pandemic.

Susan told me she appreciated that I didn't twist her words to fit my message. Her words in the documentary were exactly what she said and what she meant. She appreciated that I showed the reality of what it was like on The Farm with the Good Food and the other farms in the film.

This is what I set out to do when I made the documentary. I set out to document her farm. I think I had an obligation to represent her truthfully when I interviewed her on camera, and it never crossed my mind to do otherwise. But the fact that she felt the need to thank me made an impression on me because it reminded me that a great deal of our media is not honest about showing reality.

Even when media isn't being made to satisfy a particular agenda, the primary metric for quality in most commercial media is entertainment ('engagement'), not truth. Truth is a nice-to-have, but it is often sacrificed for the sake of a good story, even in non-fiction genres.

I'm gratified that I was able to make a film that didn't make that compromise, and Susan's comment vindicated my efforts to make a film that shows reality without trying to make it more entertaining. I think I made a film that is interesting because of that. Even though my film is relatively long at 103 minutes, I've noticed that it holds people's attention. And it holds attention because it is interesting, not just entertaining or distracting.

Susan also shared that she is worried that our culture is losing its ability to think critically. I agree with her. I think our culture is forgetting the distinction between things being interesting because they are true and real, and things that are distracting because they are novel or dramatic. It has become difficult to make (and, especially, to fund) media that is interesting; it is easier and cheaper to invent something entertaining than it is to do the intellectual work to say something interesting. And because of that, we have stopped making media that is interesting.

Where I've been

I'm late starting this newsletter, so I've already been on tour for a month, with nine screenings in B.C. before I crossed the border to Alberta. I won't list all of them, but here are some of the highlights:

At Manson's Hall on Cortes Island, I had a great discussion about class divides with some passionate locals.

On March 15th, I had the pleasure of helping open the season at Row Fourteen @ Klippers Organics in Cawston (another farm that we featured in the film).

In Webster, Alberta, I met Norwin & Ruth Willis at The Good Food Farm and discovered to my surprise that they were the only farmers in the audience who worked full time — and, rather than operating at scale farming commodity grains like most in the area, they are small, direct-to-consumer meat producers.

Where to next

  • April 22: Daysland
  • April 24: NFU Region 6 Convention
  • May: Saskatchewan & Manitoba

See up-to-date schedule

Vlog on tour

I've moved into a motorhome for the year, which means I intend to live in it while I drive around in the Canadian Winter. And I've never owned a motorhome before, so there's been a learning curve. All of which is to say, I've hit the road with a lot of projects in-progress.

The ones I've finished really reveal my priorities: I've got my podcast studio set up and ready to go live, but I haven't finished installing the batteries that keep the motorhome running when I'm not plugged in...

Watch the film

Follow the tour

Suggest a host

I want to host a movie night with as many people across Canada as I can visit! All you have to do is invite friends, family, and neighbours (10-15 is plenty), and offer a barn, basement or living room for a gathering. I will provide a projector, screen, and sound, and facilitate a post-screening discussion.

I'm in Alberta this month, heading east. If that's your area — or you know someone in the area — bring the tour to your hometown!

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