Local co-op farm featured in new documentary

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A worker-owned farm in Kings County is being highlighted in a new documentary series showcasing farms across Canada focusing on sustainable practices.

Depth of Field: Films about Farming will feature The Toasa Co-operative in Nauwigewauk, which was launched in 2021 as a market garden to create a local, sustainable food system and build community, according to the farm’s website.

The co-operative seeks to create abundance on any available land while caring for the Earth, people, and future generations, the website states.

Toasa was incorporated in May 2021 by Tom Cunningham, Data Brainanta, and Chris Rendell. Cunningham died that month and left several tools, a large seed collection, and peonies and gladioli corms to the co-op.

The name Toasa honours Cunningham and his father, Asa, and was the brand name of his dad’s dairy farm. The group’s Bhutanese friend, Tshering, also joined the co-op and said the word Toasa means friendship in Bhutanese.

With Cunningham’s farm in Riverbank on the market, the co-operative was recently moved to a property owned by group member Irmin Service on the Nauwigewauk Loop, where vegetables were grown and a roadside stall was opened this year.

Veggies grown at Toasa include arugula, basil, beans, beets, bok choy, broccoli, brusselsprout, bulb fennel, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cayenne pepper, celery, cherry tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, chives, cilantro, corn, cucumber, daikon radish, dill, eggplant, garlic, green onion, husk/ground cherry, kale, kohlrabi, leafy Asian greens, leek, lettuce, melon, okra, onion, oreganos, parsley, parsnip, peas, peppers, and potatoes. Pumpkins, radish, red onions, rhubarb, rosemary, sweet potatoes, sage, salad greens, scallions, snow/snap peas, spinach, squash, Swiss chard, thyme, tomato, turnips, watermelon, and zucchini were also produced.

Filming began earlier this year for the documentary series, which is being produced by Ottawa-based filmmakers Tamer Soliman and Sarah Douglas. It’s expected to be finished next year. Episodes will be made available online and at local community screenings in partnership with various organizations.

Depth of Field is aimed at connecting Canadians with several farmers working to address climate change and learn about agriculture directly from farmers, farm workers, producers, and land stewards, according to a news release from the National Farmers Union.

The Toasa Co-operative is among four New Brunswick farms and two in Kings County being featured in the series. The others are Cornhill Nursery in Cornhill, Marcel Goguen Farm in Cocagne, and Coopérative Ferme Terre Partagée (Shared Land Farm Co-operative) in the Rogersville area.

The documentary also includes one farm in Nova Scotia, three on Prince Edward Island, two in Nova Scotia, eight in Ontario, three in Manitoba, five in Saskatchewan, three in Alberta, and four in British Columbia.