Fail Better Farm is a short documentary that focuses on a young couple who are the current “farmers-in-residence” at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. The piece not only explores the trials and tribulations of becoming farmers, but it is a reflection on the difficulties that come with trying to follow ideals.
Director's Statement
Being someone who couldn’t wait to escape suburbia, and has subsequently become complacent in the conveniences of urban life, I find myself fascinated by what seems to be a new “back-to-the-land” movement among my peers. I am intrigued by the dedication and resolve it takes to leave city life, a steady paycheck, and health insurance to move to a rural area and start a labor-intensive career as a farmer. What is it that stirs this passion, and what is it that keeps it intact? What are the struggles involved and how does one adjust to this new lifestyle? In a search for some of these answers, I was drawn to my friends Kendra Michaud and Clayton Carter, the current “Farmers-in-Residence” at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
The basic goal of my film was to document this young couple adapting to a new career and a new life as small-scale organic farmers. Initially, in seeking out their motivations for becoming farmers, I had anticipated discovering a larger movement of like-minded people. While there does seem to be an emerging trend of young, educated people taking up new careers as farmers I became more compelled by the realization that in observing Kendra and Clayton, I was seeing a glimpse into my own generation.
We are Generation X. Notoriously labeled as slackers in our youth, we have come of age to be labeled as a generation of entrepreneurs. Guided by the mantra of “do what makes you happy” coupled with a cynicism fomented by watching the endless and seemingly unfulfilled toils of our parents’ generation, we are trying to find meaningful identities through our work. In other words, we are trying to seek a direct connection to the products of our labor.
However, in the quest for a profoundly fulfilling, and yet, simpler livelihood comes an inherent hypocrisy. Kendra and Clayton, like many in this generation, are in a perpetual cycle of second-guessing themselves in all that they do. There is the unspoken knowledge that because they chose this lifestyle, they could choose another. In other words, should their attempts at farming fail, they could go back to their lives in the city.
In setting out to document a couple attempting to lead a simple, sustainable existence, I got a glimpse into the complexity and ambiguity that comes with trying to abide by a lifestyle that follows a certain set of ideals.
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