Bridport mayor, councillor Ian Bark has praised a new-film highlighting farming and global-warming.

This Good Earth - farming, food and global warming, is a 92-minute documentary by Bridport film-maker Robert Golden.

Farming is close to Cllr Bark's heart after he grew up on a farm in the Vale of Belvoir on the Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire border.

His family were beef farmers and won supreme championship prizes at national agricultural shows.

Their prize-winning Lincoln Red Bulls were much sought after and were exported as far afield as Australia, Argentina, USA and Soviet Union. However, the breed is today on the endangered species list.

He said: "In those days, the 1950s and '60s, the fields were still awash with wild flowers, hummed with the buzz of insects, the swooping of swallows, the singing of skylarks, cuckoos and in the evening, the blackbirds' glorious serenade. They were also alive with leaping hares and rabbits and of course predatory foxes. We even used a horse and cart for many of the tasks associated with the cattle.

"The soil in which the grass to make hay, grain and other crops we grew to supplement the cattle's winter feed was enriched by their manure. It was a method of farming that had changed little for hundreds of years.

"When my father retired from the farm in 1971 and we left our cottage to live in the village, it was the end of an era in so many ways."

This Good Earth launched last week and can be seen here

Cllr Bark added: "Two years in the making, at one level it is beautifully shot and evocative homage to rural Dorset and Robert's home town, Bridport.

"Many of the magnificent images on screen are at times truly breath-taking. But overriding the beautiful imagery is a deeply worrying analysis of the impact of current intensive farming practices. This is interlaced with a clear vision of a kinder way in which to produce food in greater harmony with the natural world.

"It brings together farmers, scientists, ecologists and expert academics to contest the disturbing influence that agrochemical giants exert over the farming industry and warns the way we currently grow our food could effectively kill us unless huge changes are made in how we treat our land and other species.

"If we are to return to the environmentally friendly, wildlife rich method of farming that I grew up with, this film not only shows the way but provides us with irrefutable evidence that is essential that we do so."

Cllr Bark also wanted to share a statement from Robert Golden that he "could not agree more" with:

As a new and updated re-sounding of The Soil Association's original alarm at its founding in 1946, 'that there is a direct connection between farming practice and plant, animal, human and environmental health'.

Cllr Bark said: "This Good Earth is essential viewing for farmers, consumers, ecologists and those concerned with human rights, as well as providing a key study tool for schools, universities and all those who share the deep concerns of how and what we feed ourselves. That means you.

"The trailer gives a good introduction to the film. Once you have watched this taster, I encourage you to see the whole film and enjoy the stunning photography, but more importantly, heed the words of wisdom being spoken by those who really know what is happening and how to change it for the better."

To find out more about the film, visit this-good-earth.com

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