Video: Series Focuses On Farmers

February 17, 2012

An episode on farming is to be included in the upcoming “Bermuda Folklife” documentary series being produced by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and Somers Isle Productions,

Founded in 2010 by Bermudian filmmaker Kalilah Robinson, Somers Isle Productions teamed with Community & Cultural Affairs last year for the ongoing film project documenting Bermuda’s rich cultural heritage.

The result of this partnership — — explores the lives and work of the men and women who keep our island’s unique traditions alive.

Farming was the mainstay of the island’s economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries, dominated by exports of the  prized  Bermuda onion and Easter lily crops.

With thousands of acres given over to farming, the  industry was Bermuda’s leading employer until the island made the shift to  resort tourism in the 1920s.

The industry has been in decline ever since, with just a handful of farmers working the land now. According to a 2010 report by Bermudian researcher Aran McKittrick, Bermuda has lost an estimated 87 percent of its agricultural land since the turn of the 20th century.

Of the 735 acres of arable land available for agricultural use, only 360 acres are being actively farmed.

Preview For “Bermuda Folklife” Farming Episode

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Category: All, Environment, History, Videos

Comments (1)

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  1. TheFuture says:

    This is very needed, the growing and the documenting. Well done.