Images courtesy of “Greener Pastures” documentary trailer. Find link below.
We talk about it more often than ever before — mental health in production agriculture. And the national conversation includes Wisconsin farmers.
Jeff Ditzenberger is the founder of TUGS, a support system that he created from his personal experiences with mental health. His story has moved to a bigger stage, including an upcoming film titled “Greener Pastures.”
There are two screenings scheduled for the film in Wisconsin. The first is July 11 at 6 p.m. at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. The second screening for the film is July 14 at 7:30 at the Monroe Theatre Guild in Monroe. The premiers are at no cost — just free fill offerings. Conversation will follow the screenings.
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaV_0vxWkl4
Ditzenberger explains this all started with a call from an independent filmmaker.
“We just got to talking, and he had heard some rumblings about the mental health situations and challenges that were going on within the agricultural business,” he says. “It surprised me even because we don’t talk about it.”
After visiting Ditzenberger’s farm, shooting video, and submitting it to a film festival, they got some financial traction. Five years later, it’s been premiered at multiple film festivals and is generating steam.
“A lot of great conversations are coming out of it,” Ditzenberger says.
“Greener Pastures” captures the day-to-day lives of four small, multigenerational family farms over the course of four years. It examines the various farm stressors, policies and politics farmers must maneuver to survive, connecting the dots between mental health, industrialization, food production and climate change.
“Everybody’s story is so different but so combined, and what it does is bring the agricultural community together,” Ditzenberger says. “It’s got some of the plight of the small farms… how hard it is to get mental health care in the agricultural industry.”
He invites families to come to the premier and be open about talking about mental health. He jokes it’s not all “doom and gloom,” saying there’s a message of hope at the end.