andre carter is a senior at tougaloo college studying mass communications with a concentration in radio/television broadcasting, public relations and advertising. r’myni watson is a freshman at jackson state university studying theatre. andre and r’myni heard of planet forward’s storyfest 2016 contest through professors at their universities. for their submission, they created a video that focused on saving local farms in mississippi.

we asked the team a few questions to learn more about their entry.

q: what was your inspiration behind your innovation? how did you come up with this idea?

a: our inspiration behind our innovation — addressing how urban farming is promoting and improving the quality of health and food access in the state of mississippi — was the decrease of family-owned, african american farming because the government is buying all of the lands. also, this video was created to show everyone the growing epidemic of obesity in mississippi.

q: what was the process behind creating your submission? why did you choose to communicate your innovation through this video format?

a: the process behind our submission was basically coming up with a strong and solid storyboard, and how it should be organized. … we decided to communicate through this format because most people genuinely learn visuals, so we decided to create a short documentary that was interesting, and informing, but also entertaining as well.

q: why is this innovation so important to you? why do you think it is one of the most essential methods to help sustainable cities?

a: this innovation is important to us because the food industry doesn’t just affect a certain group of people here in mississippi, it affects us all as a whole. with the government buying up more farms, that means more fast food restaurants will be built, which increases the obesity of mississippi. with the decline of farms, that also brings a drastic decline in farmers markets, and fresh food for the public.

(editor’s note: answers edited for grammar and spelling.)