“I’m not there yet, but change has got to start somewhere.”
Marlowe Ivey, a 36-year-old, fourth-generation farmer, engaged her passion for people and pigs to create a docudrama about her life and struggles as a North Carolina pork producer.
Ivey stars in “The Carbon Neutral Pig,” a short film that sheds light on her life as a single mother, her love for pig farming and her desire to make her farm carbon neutral.
“I want to show people what we do out here because I need people to believe in me,” Ivey said in the film.
This film is the second short docudrama in a series about U.S. farmers and ranchers who are using technology to improve their farming practices in an effort to become more sustainable and to act as partners in climate action.
“Change has always started on the farm. In fact, my dad changed the way he farmed hogs and in doing so, he taught me how to care. For the land. For the people. And certainly, for our animals,” Ivey explained.
But he also taught his daughter to challenge what she knows.
Being an animal agriculture advocate requires tough skin, she told U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action (USFRA).
“At the end of the day it’s not even about science and technology, it’s about the people,” Ivey said. “We as farmers must be diligent, and disciplined and dedicated in our care day in and day out. We do that for our children to pass our land on better than we got it.”
This video series, produced by USFRA, was created with support from the North Carolina Pork Council and the United Soybean Board. The first video in the series, 30 Harvests, features the story of a Texas row-crop farmer who was on the brink of giving up and selling his family farm when he decided to invest in making it carbon negative instead.
“U.S. farmers and ranchers are superheroes. The work they do can provide climate solutions,” USFRA CEO Erin Fitzgerald said in a USFRA article. “But they can’t fulfill this calling if we don’t hear their stories and help bring investment and collaboration to their practices. Marlowe’s story serves as an example, one among many. She’s working hard to do her part, using science, working with experts, forging solutions, and she’s brave enough to speak publicly to the truth of what she does.”
There’s no question Ivey’s story – or the story of any farmer – isn’t a rosy one all the time. But Jasper Claus, director of 1Camera, said that’s partially what drew him to choose Ivey for the role.
“As I looked for a subject for this film, I saw that the work Marlowe is doing is truly emblematic of what many U.S. farmers and ranchers are doing,” Claus said in a USFRA article. “Running a farm involves continually observing, learning, pushing and improving. A bright future for Marlowe’s daughter and her generation is a huge motivator for her goals, and we brought that out in the film as a value so many people share.”
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Eric Stonestreet Sets the Record Straight About Real Pork
When Animal Activists Strike: Stay Grounded in Your Convictions
