Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island (2005)
Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island weaves a tapestry of interviews, historical photographs and contemporary footage to tell the story of farm life in America's oldest suburban region.
Just a stone's throw from New York City, Long Island is home to a once-predominant way of life that is vanishing in the shadows of strip malls and suburbia. In 1950, there were almost 3,000 farms on Long Island. Just over fifty years later, there are just over 700. As the oldest mature suburban community in the United States, Long Island has experienced the pressures of development since the 1950's, yet, in the face of growing challenges, Long Island farms are the most productive in New York State, adding $150 million annually to the economy.
Directed by Emmy® Award-Winning Filmmaker Ron Rudaitis, narrated by actor and Long Island native William Baldwin (Backdraft, The Squid and the Whale) and featuring music legend and Farm Aid President Willie Nelson, Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island examines the challenges of farming in suburbia, and celebrates the way of life, work ethic, and value system of the family farmer that has endured on Long Island for over three centuries. The documentary highlights challenges that prevent farmers from passing on their traditions to the next generation, and explores solutions that can help farmers remain on the land that has sustained them for generations.
The program received a New York Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary, won a Silver World Medal in the Environment & Ecology category at the New York Festivals International Film & Video Festival and won Best Short Documentary at the 2006 Long Island Film Festival.
This documentary is made possible by grants from the Long Island Community Foundation and the Rauch Foundation.
Produced by Rudaitis Media, Inc.
Producer/Director/Writer: Ron Rudaitis
Producer: Sarah L. Rudaitis
Presented by WLIW21 New York Public Television. Distributed by American Public Television.
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Producer/Director Ron Rudaitis has recently been elected to the Board of Governors of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NY NATAS).
Rudaitis Media's Emmy® nominated and award-winning documentary "Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island" has been selected as part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's prestigious WORLDCompass initiative.
The Rudaitis Media documentary "Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island" has received a New York Emmy Nomination in the outstanding Documentary category. Winners will be announced at the 50th Annual New York Emmy Awards on Sunday, April 1, 2007 at the Marriott Marquis, Times Square.
Farming the Future Wins Silver at NY Festivals
On February 2, 2007 the Rudaitis Media documentary "Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island" was awarded a Silver World Medal in the Environment and Ecology category at The New York Festivals, which recognizes "The World's Best Work" in informational, educational, and industrial film productions and corporate video, with entries from over 30 countries around the world.
Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island weaves a tapestry of interviews, historical photographs and contemporary footage to tell the story of farm life in America's oldest suburban region.
The program received a New York Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary, won a Silver World Medal in the Environment & Ecology category at the New York Festivals International Film & Video Festival and won Best Short Documentary at the 2006 Long Island Film Festival. 
