Harvesting Rhode Island - New Local Series on Rhode Island PBS

  
Harvesting Rhode Island is a 5-part series that raises public awareness of local farming and the farm-to-table cycle through folk life studies, and by interpreting how this significant way of life on the farm will manage to survive.

Episodes will air two at a time in the ongoing series, Rhode Island Stories, Sundays at 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. beginning March 22. UPDATE: All five episodes in this first series are now available online as well. Links are posted below. 

The series explores how traditional systems can be creatively maintained and become more of a dynamic marketplace. Introducing the public to the farmers of Rhode Island will provide insights into the complex but easily taken-for-granted process behind the edibles we consume.

Growers have had to balance the traditional approaches that were handed down to them with the variable realities of today’s business climate. In the latter part of the twentieth century local wholesale markets began to shrink due to large retailers and national distribution systems.

As a result, growers increased their direct marketing through on-site retail stands, pick-your-own programs, farmers markets, and selling through local retailers. This direct approach has, in turn, stimulated diversification to satisfy the eclectic tastes of increasingly sophisticated consumers. A large number of consumers in Rhode Island are unaware of the locations and variety of crops that are grown in the state and where to purchase them.

Harvesting Rhode Island seeks to change that by bringing viewers on location to see the farms, meet the farmers and listen to the farmers' stories.

Farm to Table                                    
Rhode Island PBS       3/22/2015      6:00 PM
Rhode Island PBS       3/24/2015      4:00 AM
Rhode Island PBS       3/28/2015      11:00 PM
LEARN                      3/24/2015      8:00 PM
LEARN                      3/25/2015      3:00 AM
LEARN                      3/26/2015      12:00 AM


   
                     
Grape Expectations               
Rhode Island PBS       3/22/2015      6:30 PM
Rhode Island PBS       3/24/2015      4:30 AM
Rhode Island PBS       3/28/2015      11:30 PM
LEARN                      3/24/2015      8:30 PM
LEARN                      3/25/2015      3:30 AM
LEARN                      3/26/2015      12:30 AM                   




Farming Old, Farming New             
Rhode Island PBS       3/29/2015      6:00 PM
Rhode Island PBS       3/31/2015      4:00 AM
Rhode Island PBS       4/4/2015        11:00 PM
LEARN                      3/31/2015      8:00 PM
LEARN                      4/1/2015        3:00 AM
LEARN                      4/2/2015        12:00 AM



                        
A Tale of Three Nurseries                 
Rhode Island PBS       3/29/2015      6:30 PM
Rhode Island PBS       3/31/2015      4:30 AM
Rhode Island PBS       4/4/2015        11:30 PM
LEARN                      3/31/2015      8:30 PM
LEARN                      4/1/2015        3:30 AM
LEARN                      4/2/2015        12:30 AM




                        
Farm City                   
Rhode Island PBS       4/5/2015        6:00 PM
Rhode Island PBS       4/7/2015        4:00 AM
Rhode Island PBS       4/11/2015      11:00 PM
LEARN                      4/7/2015        8:00 PM
LEARN                      4/8/2015        3:00 AM
LEARN                      4/9/2015        12:00 AM



UPDATED: March 13, 2015
UPDATED: April 5, 2015
UPDATED: April 6, 2015

Two Towns Emerge in Search for "Our Town"

When Rhode Island PBS put out the call in December for the next Our Town location, residents from two towns were vocal right away. By the time the January 31 deadline arrived, it was clear that support from two towns was equally enthusiastic.

“The people have spoken, and we will visit two towns in 2015 – North Kingstown and Portsmouth,” said David W. Piccerelli, president of WSBE Rhode Island PBS. North Kingstown will be featured in a documentary televised in September, and Portsmouth will be featured in December.

Piccerelli attributes the enthusiasm for this next chapter of Our Town to the success of Our Town: Glocester, the first documentary in the planned series. “The comments that we and the participants received since the premiere are positive and inspiring. We’re looking forward to building on that energy as we take the project to North Kingstown and Portsmouth.”

Our Town is a community project wherein neighbors become filmmakers and tell the stories of Our Town. Part fund-raiser, part community builder, part historical and cultural documentary, and part “day-in-the-life” video scrapbook, Our Town shares with viewers the local legends, historical happenings, and backyard secrets of the particular town and its villages – untold or uncelebrated stories that capture the essence of the town.

“Our Town gives the community a platform to share stories and perspectives on the town in their own voices,” Piccerelli said. “It's also a meaningful way for us to connect with our community.”

Residents of North Kingstown and Portsmouth are especially urged to participate, but one need not be a resident of the particular town - just have a great town story to tell. Community meetings and a technical workshop lead up to filming. During the planning meetings, participants discuss and choose the subjects and locations they want to include in the documentary about their town. Two days are allocated for filming, but volunteers can film stories anytime before the deadline.

“Those who wish to start filming right away do not have to wait for the filming dates – just contact the station and let us know,” said Jodi Mesolella, Our Town project director and director of membership and special projects at Rhode Island PBS.

“The content is decided by the participants. They pick what will be in the film. We’re looking forward to seeing what North Kingstown and Portsmouth choose to do,” Mesolella said.

In each town, Rhode Island PBS will recruit 20 to 25 volunteers with video cameras. There are no restrictions as to age or experience and there is no cost or compensation to participate.

“We will offer guidance, technical advice and support to our volunteers, but this is definitely their story as told by them in their community,” said Margie O’Brien, Our Town project producer. Video recorded by the volunteers will be edited together by Rhode Island PBS to create a one-hour film of each town.

Wickford Lighthouse in Wickford Harbor, North Kingstown. Photo credit: Walter Sulyma

The first planning meeting in North Kingstown will be in early March, with the technical workshop for the volunteer filmmakers in early April. The filming deadline will be mid-June.

Gull Cove, Portsmouth, RI  Photo: Jennifer Teichman

After an initial planning meeting in March, Portsmouth’s first community meeting will be in August, with the technical workshop and filming deadline in September.

For information about joining the Rhode Island PBS Our Town project, and for details about meetings as the dates approach, visit ripbs.org/ourtown, or call Jodi Mesolella (project director) at 401-222-3636, extension 209, Margie O'Brien (producer) at extension 225, or email ourtown@ripbs.org.

Trace the experience of The Italian Americans on Rhode Island PBS

From immigrants to prominence in business, politics, and the arts, trace the experience and influence of The Italian Americans.

The series reveals how Italian immigrants challenged the notion of the American “melting pot” — chronicling four generations of Italian-American lives, from the massive late 19th Century wave of immigration to today.

From the importance of the family over an individual’s personal aspirations, to their distinctive, circular migration patterns, to the specter of the Mafia that still plagues Italian Americans today, this series peels away myths and stereotypes to reveal a world uniquely Italian and uniquely American.

Rhode Island PBS presents the complete four-hour series The Italian Americans on two consecutive nights beginning at 8 p.m., Wednesday, February 25 and Thursday, February 26.

Click for a video preview.

Children's Friend on Rhode Island Spotlight

It’s Rhode Island’s oldest child welfare organization and one that has been a pioneer for much of the past 180 years. Children’s Friend, founded in 1834, serves the state’s most vulnerable children and their families.

And while last month’s annual Spirit of Giving Holiday Drive drew support from hundreds of individuals and companies, Jim Hummel shows us some of the dozens of programs Children’s Friend runs the rest of the year.

See the segment on Rhode Island PBS:
Fri  2/06 at 2:13 a.m.
Fri  2/06  at 12:17 p.m.
Sat  2/07 at 6:46 p.m.
Sun  2/08  at 6:51 p.m.
Mon  2/09 at 2:16 a.m.
Mon  2/09  at 12:17 p.m.
Tue  2/10  at 4:51 p.m.
Wed  2/11  at 12:16 p.m.
Thu 2/12 at 2:46 p.m.

See the segment on Learn:
Tue  2/10 at 8:51 p.m.
Wed 2/11 at 3:52 a.m.
Thu 2/12  at 6:55 a.m.

See all of the segments on Rhode Island Spotlight