COMMON GROUND FILM VIEWING & DISCUSSION

Common Ground is the highly anticipated sequel to the juggernaut success documentary, Kiss the Ground, which touched over 1 billion people globally and inspired the United States Department of Agriculture to put $20 billion toward soil health. By fusing journalistic expose’ with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, Common Ground unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of  farmers who are using “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late.

Wednesday, February 5, 7 PM
Franklin Senior Center
 505 DeMott Lane, Somerset, NJ 08873
FREE - NO RSVP required

Flyer (PDF)

The film will be followed by a Panel Discussion moderated by Robin Suydam, Franklin Twp Environmental Commission

Panelists:

- Jason DeSalvo, Cold Brook Farm

- Michele Logan, Maranatha Farm

- Ron Weiss, Ethos Farm and Primary Care

Please bring your family and friends. For more information about Franklin Township Environmental Commission and our educational outreach, please visit our website.
https://www.franklintwpnj.org/environmental

Jason DeSalvo is a thought leader in living a more sustainable life.  He and   his wife Deborah live and work on a regenerative Certified Organic farm where they practice Permaculture, grow fruits, vegetables and heirloom grains, while living in harmony with nature in a farmhouse they built that generates more power than it uses and is capable of being completely “off-grid.”  They both maintain a Whole Food Plant Based – SOS Diet. Mr. DeSalvo has served on non-profit Boards including Ethos Farm Project, Coral Reef Alliance, Tewksbury Land Trust, Jazz House Kids and Hoop-A-Paluza; also serving as Vice Chairman of Montclair, New Jersey’s Planning Board while a resident there.

Michele Logan, third-generation entrepreneur is an innovator in the credit card industry. Michele decided to take a similar approach to land stewardship when she and her family moved to the Somerset Hills of New Jersey in 2015. Michele founded Maranatha Farm in 2020. Combining land conservation, land stewardship, permaculture, regenerative agroforestry, and water management, this forest farm has set an aim to rebalance the local ecosystem while honoring the interdependence of the earth, animals and people.

Ron Weiss, M.D. is dual board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine, and a primary care physician in New Jersey and New York. He is the founder of Ethos Primary Care and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He is also a botanist and farmer and offers an evidence-based, food-as-medicine approach to healing from chronic illness and optimizing wellness. Dr. Weiss is the founder of Ethos Farm Project, a semifinalist in the Rockefeller Foundation 2050 Food System Vision Prize competition. He has been featured in top media, including The New York Times, The New York Post, The Today Show, New Jersey Monthly, and the feature-length documentary, "Eating You Alive."