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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org, OWL-OldWaysLiving@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Young Farmers: A Growing Movement
  • Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:42:00 -0600


Young Farmers: A Growing Movement
In spite of the daily discouraging environmental, political, and economic
news, coaxing living things to grow somehow seems to make folks optimistic.
by Fran Korten Sep 20, 2011
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/new-livelihoods/a-growing-movement

Recently during lunch at the YES! offices, online editor Brooke Jarvis made a
casual comment I found quite stunning. Brooke, a sharp, talented
20-something, said “I don’t know a single person under 30 who doesn’t want to
own a farm.”

What? Own a farm? I turned to several 20-somethings at the table and asked if
they agreed. They did. They waxed eloquent about their love for lambs, ducks,
chickens, bees. (No one mentioned weeding.) They confessed they weren’t sure
they would ever actually own a farm, but their yearning was definitely real.

I think that just five years ago the 20-somethings in our office were not
longing to own a farm. Something in our culture is changing. A growing
segment of people don’t want to just buy organic, healthy food. They want to
grow it. This new lust to farm seems to cross class, race, and politics.

For example, Robert Jeffrey Jr., an African American pastor in Seattle,
started Clean Greens Farm to bring produce to the inner city, where fresh
food is hard to find. He’s gotten a tremendous response from young people of
all races ready to get their hands in the dirt.

Another sign comes from the just-launched “Mother Earth News Fairs” inspired
by interest in the “how to” of growing your own. At the recent fair near
Seattle, a crowd of more than 10,000 attended workshops on everything from
canning to beekeeping to building the perfect chicken coop. Organizer Bryan
Welch told YES! Magazine’s Susan Gleason that what the people at the fair
shared in common was not their politics, but their optimism. In spite of the
daily discouraging environmental, political, and economic news, coaxing
living things to grow somehow seems to make folks optimistic.

City codes are catching up. You can now keep bees in New York City, goats in
Seattle, and chickens in Los Angeles. And, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the number of very small farms (under 50 acres) has been
steadily increasing.

So what’s going on? I think we’re seeing the convergence of three major
cultural trends:

A response to uncertain times ahead. Awareness is increasing that climate
change is affecting crop yields and that the global economy can’t be relied
on to supply safe food. In the face of such uncertainty, there’s an almost
instinctual desire to secure one’s food supply. A good place to start is
growing your own.

A rebellion against agribusiness. A lot of Americans of all political stripes
are appalled at what mega-corporations are doing to our food supply. Whether
their revulsion is driven by compassion for animals and/or farmworkers,
concern for their families’ health, worry about destruction of the
environment, or resentment of concentrated wealth and power, the practices of
agribusiness are driving people to look for alternatives that are humane,
healthy, and community-friendly.

An enhanced appreciation of good food. Relishing delicious food has become
part of mainstream culture, which brings an appreciation of really fresh
food. After all, what is more delicious than a ripe tomato or an ear of corn
just picked from the garden?

Owning a farm may not be everyone’s dream, but my hunch is that the trends
driving the urge to grow one’s own will only intensify. So here’s to the
under-30s (and a lot of over-30s too) who are leading the way to a healthier,
happier food system.






  • [Livingontheland] Young Farmers: A Growing Movement, Tradingpost, 10/27/2011

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