Beretta Farms makes appearance in new documentary

By Julia Galt

Fresh off a starring appearance in A&W's grass-fed beef advertisements, Beretta Farms is taking on another high-profile media role – this time in Grass Farmers, an A&W produced documentary that examines regenerative agriculture and low-impact ranching in Canada.
Discussing Beretta Farms' own experience using exclusively organic, grass-fed, and antibiotic and hormone-free meat, co-founder Mike Beretta and daughter Lieschen Beretta make a strong case for practicing “green” regenerative agriculture.
“We just really wanted to continue to showcase the grass-fed and regenerative agriculture movement, something that we've been fortunate to be able to do, organically, since the beginning,” said Lieschen Beretta.
Regenerative agriculture is a farming and grazing practice that claims to reverse climate change by rebuilding organic matter and restoring biodiversity in soil. Cattle live off the land, returning nutrients to the earth and, in turn, help the grasslands flourish.
With awards including Best Canadian Documentary at the 2021 Montreal Independent Film Festival and an official selection at 2021's Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, the message behind Grass Farmers is certainly hitting home.
“It's a personal documentary about the type of farming we do,” said Lieschen. “The filmmakers really got to see the passion behind what we do here.”
Grass Farmers is a continuation of Beretta Farms' long relationship with A&W. Though the Beretta family has supplied organic, grass-fed, and antibiotic and hormone-free beef to A&W for over eight years, their role in the burger chain's advertisements and media is a more recent development.
Lieschen and co-founder Cynthia Beretta made split-second cameos in A&W's “Dancing for Change” campaign in 2019, while Lieschen fronted A&W's national grass-fed beef campaign in 2020 and 2021. The two most recent ads, shown nationally, see Beretta discussing the co-dependent relationship between cattle and the grazing lands.
“We had already done the commercials, so when A&W approached us about the documentary, they were already well-versed about what we do at Beretta and how we farm,” said Beretta. “It was the perfect fit.”
Filmed in the summer of 2019, the Grass Farmers shoot was an opportunity to get to know the crew, educate them on regenerative agriculture, and even go on a horseback tour around the farm. The benefits of grass-fed farming, from the rich soil to the flourishing grasslands, could be seen first-hand.
“There's so many ranch families across Canada other than ourselves who are doing it this way,” said Beretta. “Southern Ontario is a hilly landscape, so farming crops wasn't an option for us. Livestock came naturally.”
To continue educating the public on the benefits of regenerative agriculture, Beretta Farms is set to open an educational center on their King City farm in the next two years.
“We just really want to continue to educate consumers,” said Beretta. “Now, especially with COVID-19, educating them on where their food comes from and how it's raised is important.”