Top 2024 documentaries about organic food and regenerative agTop 2024 documentaries about organic food and regenerative ag

Food is a global unifier. But speaking the same language sometimes takes a translator, someone who can decode what is really happening.

One of the best ways to understand more effectively comes from watching a documentary. Catch up on the best documentaries about organic food and regenerative agriculture movement in the past year with this list.

The overarching themes are “food is medicine” and “everyone deserves a place at the table”, especially when it comes to farming and access to land. Done right, nutrient-rich food that is good for the earth and for the people who eat it.

For Claire Mackenzie, the British producer of “Six Inches of Soil,” which launched in January 2024, one of the biggest surprises has been seeing the film translated into Russian for a central Asian audience. Not for Russia, she says, but countries like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

“We feel that the future of farming is on a precipice here in the U.K. and globally,” Mackenzie says. “We want to be part of the change.” That change involves educating and training people to understand how to grow food and what it takes to be a farmer.

“Farming is one of the hardest jobs,” Mackenzie says. “To do it is multifaceted. You need people with a versatile brain and an inquisitive mind. It is best if people are working together and collaborating.”

Related:‘Common Ground’ screening includes guests, lively discussion

That positivity has resonated with audiences.

“What we have been told is that most environmental films can leave people feeling hopeless and worried,” Mackenzie says. “People come out of our film feeling reconnected to their soul and food.” That’s important. Agriculture, food and its related industries represent roughly a $1.5 trillion economy. Nearly 11% of the workforce in the U.S. is connected to agricultural and food industries.

Shining a light on underrepresented communities

“Farming While Black,” a documentary released in 2023, follows Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, and examines the historical plight of Black farmers. It caught the attention of many last year, including a spot at the 2024 Climate Film Festival, two awards at the 2024 Wild and Scenic Film Festival and best documentary at the 2024 Filmteenth Film Festival.

In the film, Penniman notes that a rising generation of Black farmers is looking at its agricultural heritage and their potential to help save the planet. Fewer than 2% of today’s farms are owned by Black farmers, a considerable decrease from the 14% of farms that were Black owned in 1910.

Successful documentaries such as “Food, Inc” (2009), “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” (2010), “Forks over Knives” (2011)—as well as "Kiss the Ground" (2019), "Seaspiracy" (2021), “The Smell of Money” (2022)—help fulfill the public’s appetite for hard-hitting and inspiring films about how and where food is produced as much as what we eat, according to the filmmakers behind “Six Inches of Soil.”

Here are a few 2024 documentaries worth watching.

Six Inches of Soil

A true story about how three British farmers stood up against the industrial food system to transform the way they produce food with nature. Impact of climate change (including drought) and how to revitalize the land.

Directed by independent filmmaker, Colin Ramsay and produced by Claire Mackenzie, the trailer opens with the comment, “Six inches of soil feeds 8 billion people.”
Released in January 2024, this documentary focuses on the need for farmers to use regenerative agriculture to support a sustainable future.

“We already grow enough of all the human essential nutrients to feed everyone in line,” the documentary states. And yet, the film says, “farming is the single biggest cause biodiversity collapse, the second biggest cause of climate change.”

The film’s point: “Soil is the most valuable resource on the planet, and we're degrading it without even realizing.” More importantly, the film states: “We have come to believe that money is more important than soil. That idea has to change.”

Where to watch: Right now, this film is streaming on Vimeo in the United Kingdom but not in the U.S. “To view in the U.S., you will need to register a screening,” says Mel Bradley, impact producer of “Six Inches of Soil.”  This can be done, Bradley says, for as little as $50. Host a few friends or a larger event in your local community by registering as a host on Kiema.com.  Make sure to set up your event at least 3 days in advance, Bradley says.

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment

Watch how identical twins change their diets and lifestyles for eight weeks. The four-part docuseries on Netflix shows via a real-life scientific experiment how dietary choices—being an omnivore versus following a vegan diet—impact the body. Overall, the docuseries points to how a vegan diet improves overall cardiovascular health.

For example, one vegan’s insulin levels dropping 20% more than their omnivore twin’s did. They also lost more weight and muscle mass than their omnivore twins. It’s based on the Stanford TwiNS Study published in November 2023.

There are naysayers, like Alexa Ross, a Loyola University dietician who wrote a scathing review, calling it “an ad for a vegan diet.”

Where to watch: Netflix

Feeding Tomorrow

If food waste were a country, third largest source of methane emissions after the United States and China.

Directed by brothers Oliver English, co-founder and CEO of Common Table Creative, and Simon English, this documentary delves into how to transform the food system to be more regenerative and just. Seven years in the making, this 2024 documentary explores how to feed the world's growing population in a way that's healthier and protects the planet.

It’s based on the idea the current food system is broken. Littered with health epidemics and inequality, it’s destroying our world’s ecosystem and fueling climate change.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play and Tubi

Omnivore

Danish chef René Redzepi, who co-owned the three-Michelin star Copenhagen restaurant Noma created this documentary series.  When he closed Noma during the pandemic—before temporarily re-opening and then announcing the restaurant would permanently close by the end of 2024—Redzepi focused his energy and attention on making a food documentary series that premiered in July.

Eight episodes narrated by Redzepi explore how ingredients—from Peruvian salt flats to paprika peppers in Serbia and coffee forests in Rwanda—shape societies and beliefs about the foot we eat.  

It explores the human experience through food. Learn about the global significance of eight ingredients: bananas, chilies, coffee, corn, pork, rice, salt, and tuna.

Where to watch: Apple TV+

 Looking for more?

Food for Profit. Released in February, this investigative Italian documentary delves into the meat industry, lobbying at the intersection of agriculture, food and politics. Much is centered around the European dairy and meat industry via factory farming and problems like water pollution, migrants exploitation, biodiversity loss and antibiotic resistance. Directors Giulia Innocenzi and Pablo D'Ambrosi look at “how Europe is transferring hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money into the hands of intensive farms, which mistreat animals, pollute the environment, and pose a potential danger for future pandemics.” It’s not currently streaming in the U.S. Organize a screening by contacting [email protected]

Food, Inc. 2. This 2023 “back for seconds” sequel follows up on Food, Inc. It explores the decline of family farms, the rise of ultra-processed foods and investments big companies are making in alternative meat and food. The film’s point: A healthy food system is the centerpiece of a just society but that can’t happen when there’s unchecked corporate consolidation.

Organic Rising. This 2023 documentary is a good explainer on history of organic agriculture. The documentary, which was shown at the Sarasota Film Festival 2024, covers the history of organic farming, regulatory practices and the farming methods that lead to organic produce. That’s done by examining conventional agriculture via the perspectives of farmers and scientists.