Images courtesy of the “Greener Pastures” documentary trailer. Find the link below.
We talk about it more now than ever before — mental health in production agriculture. And the 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 the film “Greener Pastures” coming to PBS on Monday, March 25.
The link to watch: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/greener-pastures/
Watch the trailer: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/greener-pastures/
“Greener Pastures” captures the day-to-day lives of four small, multigenerational family farms over four years. It examines 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 watch the premiere 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.