This collaborative ethnographic film highlights Las Milpitas de Cottonwood community farm and its members in their efforts to provide educational opportunities, capacity building, and a place for Tucson area residents to grow their own food. The farm serves as a working demonstration site for desert food production, composting, ecological restoration, and permaculture. The film features interviews with farm staff, plot managers, and community members who share their personal experiences and stories about gardening, community building, and creating a sense of place in the arid conditions in the Southwest.
 
Watch the official trailer here.
 
Growing Together was filmed between 2013 and 2014. The project was directed by A. Ashley Stinnett (Ph.D. Arizona, 2014), with the support of Kenneth Kokroko (B.A. Arizona, 2013; BARA Intern) and Morgan Lundy (B.A. Arizona, 2014; BARA Post-Baccalaureate Intern), as well as Roberto Gonzalez (BARA intern), Allison Wechsler (B.A. Arizona, 2012; former BARA Post-Baccalaureate Intern), and Grant Hull (B.A. Arizona, 2012; former BARA Intern).
 
The film will premiere at the School of Anthropology’s Centennial “10,000 Years of Eating in the Southwest” event inside the Arizona State Museum on Saturday, April 25, and will be available to stream here and here. (Original Digest publication date: 4/17/15)