More Than Corn
Eating local becomes more than just a trend in a docuseries that tells the stories of real Hoosier farmers who plan, build, plant, grow, nurture, and harvest, proving that there is more than corn in Indiana.
Genesis and Eli, husband and wife farmers based in Noblesville, Indiana, share their journey to produce delicious, local food. While some may call it the simple life, More Than Corn explores the real challenges of starting and operating a produce farm in the Midwest.
Indiana and farming are practically synonymous, yet 90% of the food Indiana residents eat is sourced from outside our state.* More Than Corn shines a spotlight on the Hoosier farmers who dedicate their time and talent to growing healthy, delicious food for us to enjoy right here in Indiana.
Our team at 12 Stars Media started making films about our local food ecosystem way back in 2014, and we haven’t stopped since. At first, we created quick simple videos to help spread the word about events and programs that supported the booming “farm to fork” movement. Now, with More Than Corn, we’ve embarked on an ongoing docuseries that’s diving deep into the lives of Hoosier farms across the state and exploring how all of us, even as consumers, fit into the same food ecosystem.
*Ken Meter (Crossroads Resource Center), Hoosier Farmer? Emergent Food Systems in Indiana (commissioned by IN State Dept. of Health), 2012
“To date, after nearly twenty years of making films and videos, More Than Corn is one of the projects I’m most proud of and inspired by. Filming on farms is my happy place.”
One of our goals in telling the story of Genesis, Eli, and Full Hand Farm was to open viewers’ eyes to the abundance of locally grown food available practically in their backyards. Along the way, even the team learned more. Editor Glenn Johnson says he had “little to no knowledge of different farming practices” before working on More Than Corn. Through the process of sharing Full Hand Farm’s story with the community, he says, “I’ve had the pleasure to be educated by sitting through dozens of hours of footage and editing together films that capture all the facets of what these farmers do. There is a lot of difficulty in the work, but I think there’s also a lot of joy captured in this series that’s incredibly inspiring to watch.”
After meeting Genesis and Eli nearly ten years ago for one of our very first farm-related videos, spending a year at Full Hand Farm to produce the original More Than Corn series, licensing the title to Hoodox for exclusive streaming as a cornerstone of its launch library, and re-imagining the series into a feature film that screened at both Heartland International Film Festival and Indy Film Fest, our team wondered what could ever top such an incredible journey and opportunity.
The answer? More More Than Corn. Thanks to generous financial support from an incredible donor who believes in the power of documentary storytelling, we’ve embarked on the journey of telling several new More Than Corn stories. Don’t miss Season II, where we follow Soul Food Project and Garcia’s Gardens in Indianapolis, Nightfall Farm in Crothersville, and Hawkins Family Farm in North Manchester.
In the coming years, we will continue to highlight farmers from across Indiana as they spark positive change in their communities, inspire Hoosiers to eat local, and prove, once and for all, that there is much more than corn in Indiana.
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