Each week in America, 330 farmers leave their land

www.cultivatefoundation.org

"Abandoned" and its accompanying soundtrack were commissioned by The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation to raise awareness about the economic hardship family farmers face in the increasingly industrialized American agriculture system.

In the film, director David Altobelli tells the story of three boys exploring an empty house late one night. The boys break into a farmhouse that was clearly abandoned in a hurry some time ago. As the three explore the house - and even begin to vandalize it - one boy slowly comes to see that the family that lived there was not so different from his own. He realizes that the house they are trashing could foreshadow the future of his own family's farm and home. A frightening moment in the house sends the boys running back to the comfort of their still-functioning farms.

On the soundtrack, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs covers Willie Nelson's country music classic "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys."

But fear not! Julia Gillard and Barack Obama are pushing on towards total free-trade prostration with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as a step towards a seamless regional economy. And we know this will bring abundant wealth because Julia says so:

"We know that closed markets are never the answer.

"Above all, this is a time to keep breaking down barriers and opening the doors of trade. There is a simple equation at work here: trade equals growth, equals jobs."

File under: the ideology of simpletons fails to notice the closing farms.