Our distance from the food we eat is clear to see, displayed on grocery store shelves in plastic wrap and styrofoam trays, unblemished apples as large as your first and bucolic snapshots of farm life that only remain true at the smallest scale.
“Common Ground” seeks to draw us closer to the local food system. It is an adventure through planting, harvest, herding and milking at Brookford Farm in Canterbury, undertaken by photojournalism intern Alex Miller as a summer-long capstone project.
Miller returned to Brookford Farm repeatedly to photograph the evolution of its production and the people who make things run. Three chapters emerged from his reporting: glimpses of the immigrant farmworkers who sustain the bulk of operations, the technological advancements that have changed the face of farming and the family life co-owners Luke and Catarina Mahoney have built on the land.
Accompanying articles ground Miller’s photos in the experiences of Burundi-native Sadiqui Sadiqui and the Mahoneys’ son, Emanuel, the flickering hope of the family’s second generation.
Look through the viewfinder of Miller’s camera to immerse yourself in this local agricultural landscape.
