Nick compares farming to gambling because it requires you to put “everything you got on the line when you go out there every day.” What sorts of pressures does that put on the family and how do they cope?

Celeste both appreciates and questions the area’s large agribusiness: “Bob Evans, the real Bob Evans, he farmed and you know, built a local business. But then they were a corporation.” What does the shift from farm to corporation mean to family farmers like the Nolans?

Celeste loves the hands-on process of making cheese, describing it as “magic.” She says, “I like the quiet and the repetitiveness. But you do it everyday…[the] magic wears off.” Are there things you once loved but that lost their luster through repetition? Can you think of ways to reclaim the “magic?”

Though they work incredibly hard, the Nolans always seem to be in a financially precarious position. How do they cope with that frustration? Can you think of any structural changes or policies that could provide them with financial security while still allowing them to operate their small, independent farm?

Nick’s grandfather died in a tractor accident. What do you know about the dangers of farming or the frequency of farming injuries or deaths? How might issues like healthcare and rural broadband relate to safety improvements?

A fire closes Celeste’s largest cheese customer. How do independent businesses (like Jackie O’s) sustain family farms? What do you think might happen if independent restaurants were all undercut by national chains?

Celeste says, “You have to make your happiness with what you’re doing every day. You have to build in that--that joy.” How do the Nolans build joy into their lives? How do/could you?