The Plight of the Family Farm



Check out some short videos here.

Life in Iowa can be punishing. Many Iowans expend their lives sweating over soil and spilling the blood of livestock; they endure the hardships associated with a life inextricably bound to the ups and downs of nature. Today, those challenges and a shift in our nation's economy have pushed the youth of rural communities to migrate to the metropolises of America. Those left in the wake of this out-migration continue their lives, seemingly unchanged from the generations that preceded them, and entombed in obscurity.

The tension of contemporary rural life plays out here: the struggle of a family farm to continue, disenfranchised youth, the slaughterhouse, migrant labor, and the aged fading from Iowa's mythical landscape. Through their stories we gain insight to a way of life that is disappearing, a culture that could be lost forever.

As "community" continues to be homogenized in zones of urban sprawl across the globe, we must consider all that we are losing—development should not come at the expense of more fragile communities.

Tla-o-qui-aht Community Traditional Foods & Medicine Workshops!

Join Gisele Martin and the Tla-o-qui-aht for a workshop promoting healthy lifestyles and traditional knowledge. A healthy meal with traditional foods will be provided. Workshop discussions include traditional food and medicines, harvesting, hunting and preparation. Alternative forms of healing and health care will also be introduced.

For Tla-o-qui-aht community.

1st workshop:
Date: Monday Feb.15th
Time: 10 am-4pm
Location: Long Beach Golf Course.

2nd workshop:
Date: Tuesday Feb.16th
Time: 10am-4pm
Location: Opitsaht Community Hall

Door prizes will be given!

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3rd and 4th workshops are being planned for our urban members:
Port Alberni on Thursday Feb.25th,
Nanaimo on Friday, Feb.26th
(locations to be announced)