Escobars featured in new documentary film about farms

‘Forgotten Farms’ will be screened at Portsmouth Abbey on March 7

By Jim McGaw
Posted 2/23/17

PORTSMOUTH — “How many younger people want to be a movie star, or want to be an astronaut or something fantastic?” Louis Escobar says in the opening to “Forgotten …

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Escobars featured in new documentary film about farms

‘Forgotten Farms’ will be screened at Portsmouth Abbey on March 7

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — “How many younger people want to be a movie star, or want to be an astronaut or something fantastic?” Louis Escobar says in the opening to “Forgotten Farms,” a new documentary directed by Dave Simonds. “Louis Escobar wanted to be a dairy farmer. I’ve lived my life’s dream.”

It’s not surprising that the well-known local dairy farmer would be chosen to kick off the film, which will be screened March 7 at Portsmouth Abbey — to be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, Mr. Escobar, and his wife of 30 years, Jane.

In fact, Mr. Escobar’s gift for gab apparently made editing the documentary — which features about half a dozen farmers in all — a difficult task.

“Dave’s wife told Jane, ‘We had a hard time putting that film together — making it about all the farmers and not a Louis Escobar thing,’” he said. “I’ve been told I have a way with words, but I’m only in there for a few minutes in the whole film.”

That’s why he’s quick to downplay rumors that “Forgotten Farms” is all about him. “I’ve been getting a lot of, ‘Louie, I want to see your film.’ It’s not my film! I’m one of five or six farmers that gave interviews,” he said.

“Forgotten Farms” shows the cultural divide between the new food movement and traditional farming, highlighting the need to examine differences, develop mutual understanding and find common ground. Its premise is that a truly sustainable local food system must rely on all farmers in order to benefit everyone.

Mr. Escobar explained the motivation behind the film and how Mr. Simonds — an actor, filmmaker and writer — decided to feature him.

“His wife is a teacher at Williams College in Weston, Mass., and Dave as a kid grew up and worked on family farms,” Mr. Escobar said during an interview at his home Tuesday at Escobar’s Highland Farm on Middle Road. “She told her students to interview farmers and they went to farmers’ markets and they’re interviewing people with, you know, 18 tomato plants in their backyard.

“(Dave) saw that and he was horrified. He said, ‘I got to do something,’ so he decided to produce this film. He interviewed farmers, and somebody told him, ‘You really need to interview Louis Escobar.’”

Mr. Simonds found Mr. Escobar online and contacted him in the spring of 2014.

“He came down and we set up at the end of the barn. I told him I had cataract surgery the day before, so I got these round sunglasses on — farmer Hollywood here!” said Mr. Escobar. Mr. Simonds later returned to the farm to shoot additional scenes of him working the farm.

The accident

All the footage of Mr. Escobar was shot before he seriously injured himself on June 4, 2015, when the tractor he was riding ended up in a ditch. These days, he uses a mobility scooter to get around.

“I flew out of the seat and struck my head. I remember going down, and that’s all I remember. Next thing I knew they were putting me on a fracture board and rushing me to the hospital,” he recalled. 

His head was split open, requiring three blood transfusions to stop the bleeding, and he also broke four ribs and aggravated an already poor spinal condition. Mr. Escobar was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where he spent a few days in the intensive care trauma unit. “Jane never left my side — never,” he said.

After that he spent seven weeks in Newport Hospital’s Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center. “Finally Medicare says, ‘Get this bum out of there; it’s too expensive. Put him in a dog kennel,’” he said, laughing.

Ms. Escobar looked around and found St. Elizabeth Manor in Bristol, where her husband received more therapy. That’s where he watched a rough draft of “Forgotten Farms” from Mr. Simond’s laptop, perched atop his food tray.

At first, he didn’t recognize himself.

“I’m there at St. Elizabeth’s looking at the film, and out in front of my barn there’s my tractor and this friggin’ old man who’s got a hood pulled up over his head, bent over and limping. Who the hell is that? I was in a state of shock. I looked a little closer and it was me!” said Mr. Escobar, who’s now 78.

Film’s message

Mr. Escobar, who spoke at a successful screening of the film in Hartford, Conn., said the documentary portrays “family farmers, commercial producers who fill the dairy case in the supermarket” in a more positive light. 

While he likes the idea of farmers’ markets since they educate consumers on where their food comes from, those who work the larger farms are often overlooked, said Mr. Escobar.

His wife agreed. 

“It really points out to people how much we care about our animals and how much we put them ahead of us, all the time,” said Ms. Escobar, choking up. “I think with this new food movement, a lot of what has happened is the commercial farmer is vilified. They’re like, ‘You can’t be any good if you’re a commercial farmer. You’re treating the animals as production units.’ 

“But I’d like them to see them out there at 10 o’clock at night. Last year, we were out here on one of those nights when it was 7 degrees. We’re in the holding area trying to get a calf out of this cow and having an awful time. We couldn’t just leave her.”

It’s a hard line of work for anyone, she said. One farmer depicted in the film kept putting off a knee replacement because he didn’t have enough help to care for his animals, she pointed out.

Hopefully the film will relay the message that farms “are not just factories,” so people will stop complaining about manure being spread or what they perceive as poor treatment of animals, she said. “Don’t act as if we’re treating our cows really poorly just because we don’t bring them in the house with heated beds and all for them. They are animals and we do what is general animal practice,” she said.

Positive outlook

Although he acknowledged that “winters are not fun,” Mr. Escobar keeps a positive outlook despite his limited mobility. And yes, he’s still the man in charge. 

“We’ve got it all set so I can drive right where they’re milking the cows,” he said, adding that If there’s a problem, everyone turns to him for direction. “I still make all the major decisions.”

And when people ask him how he’s doing these days, his answer is always the same.

“Better than ever!”

Screening of ’Forgotten Farms’

WHAT: Louis and Jane Escobar will speak after the film along with director Dave Simonds and producer Sarah Gardner. The event is being hosted by newportFILM with support from the Aquidneck Land Trust.

WHERE: Portsmouth Abbey School Auditorium, 285 Corys Lane

WHEN: Tuesday, March 7; pre-film wine and cheese reception (featuring Rhody Fresh cheese) is at 6 p.m., film at 7 p.m.

COST: $20 for reception and film, $12 for just film

MORE INFO: www.newportfilm.com

Escobar's Highland Farm, Louis Escobar, newportFILM, Aquidneck Land Trust, Portsmouth Abbey

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.