5/5 Awesome Farmer
  by Kevin Doan
This is a really good documentary on farming and how it affects the country. Plus this farmer John's Mom has so much compassion for his son (Farmer John). It also shows me to not let my dreams go no matter what to be persistent. It has sad parts but also there are very happy parts in it. He is who I want to be which is a Organic/Biodynamic Farmer in the future. This is a film for everyone who is connected to the land. Or lives out in the country even a city sleeker bit by the farm bug can enjoy this. Or just a city person Farmer John is an inspiration to us all.

1/5 Not what I was expecting...
  by Bonnie M. Traylor (Southern California)
I was so hopeful about this movie, but after the farmer john tastes the dirt, dresses like a woman, and then has a naked woman wallowing in the dirt behind the tractor while he's driving bare-legged with a hot pink boa... I had to stop it. Doesn't seem like the heart-warming family movie I was expecting.

5/5 An American Original!
  by R. Swanson (New Mexico)
This is a terrific film about an incredible man. He was born on a family farm in Illinois and learned how to work it as a child. His father died when he was still young and all the work fell on his shoulders. He went to the closest college in the area, Beloit, which was, at that time a magnet for hippies from the East coast. This expanded John's interests....and for a while the farm was a haven to kids from all over who wanted to be "close to the land."

I don't want to spoil the story but it is a wonderful tale of his progression as he goes through the changes in farming and the ups and downs of his personal life. I felt a personal connection with the family since mine was from the same area and the folks in the home movies all looked very familiar.

I highly recommend this film for anyone who loves the land... and life.

5/5 Inspiring!
  by Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
The Real Dirt on Farmer John tells the incredible yet true story of John Peterson who was one of the very few farmers able to remain a farmer after the devastating financial crisis most farms faced in the 1980s. The story is told very well with great footage of John's family and himself when he was younger growing up on what was then his parents' farm; this really serves to give us an excellent idea of what farming life was like back in the 1950s. There's also interesting commentary by John's neighbors even if they aren't always too kind to John; he was not like them so they thought him weird. Worse yet, they intentionally and very maliciously spread bad and false rumors about him which you will learn about as you watch this movie. The documentary flows along at a very good pace and I was never once bored. The cinematography is excellent, too.

We see wonderful footage of John Peterson growing up on the farm; his mother had purchased a movie camera and she loved to document their life on the farm. John is able to recall his father and his kindly Uncle Harold by reviewing these old home movies and that's great. We see them building their barn (this clip is actually near the end of the film) and we also see them plowing the fields and raising livestock.

The story is told through John's eyes; we learn how when John's father died he was expected at an early age (he was just starting to get ready for college) to run the farm; he even chose a college only eight miles away so that he could tend to the farm as much as possible. He especially didn't want to fail his parents by having the farm go south on his watch. We learn how the farm became a hippie haven in the 1960s when John was in college. The idealistic young men and women from Beloit College helped John to run the farm and they all had a great deal of fun doing it; this also introduced John to new ways of thinking and a whole new sense of artistic creativity and freedom that he cherishes to this day. Unfortunately, however, we also learn that the farm was not always an easy place and John admits that he had to take time away from the farm more than once in his life. He traveled to Mexico to deal with his feelings and get a reprieve from the pressure of it all.

Amazingly enough, John manages to save the farm despite the economic woes most farmers faced during the 1980s. I don't want to tell you how he saves the farm; it would spoil it for you and I don't want to do that. I have also left out some other material so that this documentary will be as powerful and interesting as possible without spoilers.

The DVD comes with some very nice bonus features. We get a documentary feature entitled "Bitter Harvest;" "The Bug Song" music video and "The Farmer John Song" music video. There are deleted scenes and even more!

The Real Dirt on Farmer John is quite a powerful, moving documentary that will touch your heart and stay in your mind for quite some while. John Peterson's story is inspiring to say the least; and that's terrific. I highly recommend this DVD.

5/5 Reuniting the people with the source of the food
  by Guy Denutte (Cali, Colombia)
"It used to be that everyone in this country had a connection to farms, but now most of these farms have gone". This film shows the history of farming in the US, through the eyes of a particular farmer in the Midwest, John Peterson. Bankruptcy eliminated most of the small family farms, being unable to pay back their loans from the 70's on through the 90's. This was also the fate of John Peterson, who had to sell most of his land (330 acres), and was left with only 22 acres.

John Peterson is a wonderful individual. He's not only a farmer, but he's also very fond of art. He makes all kind of stuff, he writes, he paints, he sings, he makes music videos, he performs in theatre and of course he is the star of this movie. He is also aware of his being not very common. In his hippie period, he said his farm was located on the "Midwest Coast".

But he's also a tough guy. No matter how big the misfortunes, after some retreat and meditation, he always comes back with a new plan, and goes forward. So, after suffering from bankruptcy, he decided to quit chemicals and transforming his farm to organics, like it used to be, in the 20's, fertilizing with manure. The next logical step was getting involved the community. His farm, Angelic Organics, has now 1200 shareholders from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme. Each shareholder receives each week a box full of fresh and healthy vegetables and fruits. This way, the farm performs its historical role again, reuniting the people with the source of the food.

We should definitively all be supporting farmers who switch to organics. They need us, as we need them. Look for organic farmers in your local communities. It's good for your health and it's good for the environment.