Can I get a ‘hell yeah!’? I was reading this article in the New York Times today about the resurgence of young farmers when I saw a link to The Greenhorns film. Talking to our friend Chris from Wanna Farm he asked
there sure is a lot going on in our country involving small farms. i just can’t tell if we’re just standing in the middle of the choir or if change is really happening.
I’m hoping that change is really happening. Connection to our most basic necessities- food, water, shelter, community- have been close to lost in a few short generations. For me, I just want those things back. I’m hearing about and meeting more and more people who feel the same and are taking action to find those things again.
Go nominate a young farmer to be part of The Greenhorns documentary here.
This is so wild, Ryanne. I just saw this trailer earlier this week on another blog! I love what Severine is doing. I’m glad you are sharing it also.
We need more farmers, everywhere. There needs to be societal change, tho, to support these new, young farmers. Giving them access to funds to buy their first farm (this is especially important for folks who don’t come from a family farm) is high on the list. The Farm Bill could use a major updating to support new/young farmers too. They could use a little subsidizing! And people need to make an effort to support them by buying either directly from them (farmer’s markets/CSAs/buying club) or buying their products at stores that purchase from the farmer. Many ways to help out. Get creative! And get to know your farmer!!
PS. I think change is really happening. I see it and hear about from all over.
I think change is happening despite my cynical first inclination. I’ve spent the whole week pondering my email to Ryanne. Thoughts to come.
Rebecca-
Instead of us small farmers getting subsidized I’d rather see subsidies go away all together. Then we can all see the real cost of food. That’s the point when people will start see the true costs involved.
Perhaps, but wasn’t the Farm Bill originally started to help keep a farmer going under, say, amongst other things, due to a bad crop? I am just learning about all this myself. I think, some sort of help ought to be in place, but not just for corn, cotton, soybean, rice, or wheat farmers. And how about those just starting out and not being able to get a loan from an institution because they want to make a living growing/selling food. Something needs to get changed there also.
I looked at your site briefly and I see you are a farmer. I’d like to hear more from you about this, if you’re willing. Hopefully we’ll all learn more, especially about the real cost of food.
Rebecca, you should definitely check out Chris’ work. His farm is outside Portland: http://ryanishungry.com/2008/02/18/wanna-farm/
Here’s a pretty good article describing what happened in New Zealand when they stopped subsidies cold turkey nationwide. Pretty interesting:
http://www.rrstar.com/business/x1429053599
I do agree with you that there should be a way for young people starting out that don’t have land “in the family” or the funds to secure it, to be able to find a piece of land. That’s probably the number one problem you’ll hear- it’ll be interesting to see how many folks in the Greenhorns film comment about land acquistion…
Equity trust has some really cool approaches to land acquisition for farmers:
http://www.equitytrust.org/
As for us personally, we rely on diversity of crops to protect us from crop failure. (40-50 different veggies) One of the many characteristics of a CSA farm. Diversify your markets, Diversify your veggies. If one doesn’t pull through another will. CSA members are a safety net too. They invest in the season before the season starts- That equals liquid equity for the farmer. And the return for the member is pure veggie goodness.
Besides our wannafarm site you should check out our farm website http://www.bluefoxorganics.com
for more info on our CSA- we’re approaching our CSA program differently than many farms do right now. We’ve changed our program to better fit our needs as well as our community’s needs. That’s another drawback to the subsidies programs- the farmer is locked into a set of rules mandated but the politicos and lobbyists. I like having the autonomy to adjust to my communities needs.
Hope this helps give you a few starting points in seeing the contrasts between the world of subsidy farming and the world of small scale community farming.
Jay – thanks for the link. I actually remember seeing that one before, and thot, what a great idea!!
Chris – Very interesting read on what what happened in New Zealand. I’m not sure some farmers would handle it. As with many things in life, easier for some, perhaps, and harder for others, definitely. My sense is there are many one-crop farms whose income rely solely on subsidies. Cotton comes to mind. Something needs to give, tho, for the system is broken, as many are aware.
Equity Trust looks like a good idea. Are there enough to help young farmers get going? I found it serendipitous that their page of discussions around financing was called Gaining Ground. A story I did last summer was about a new farmer who was turned down over and over by lending institutions just because he DID want to farm. Finally one of the banks (ironically the first one) got ‘creative’. The name of his farm is Gaining Ground. If you’d like to see it (hope you don’t mind me sharing here, Jay and Ryanne), but it seems to fit this thread…
http://cookingupastory.com/index.php/2007/10/29/a-new-family-farmer/
And Chris, how far outside of Portland are you? Maybe we could get together sometime and continue some of this.
Rebecca
that’s a great story of the young farmer that could only get a loan for a country estate, not a farm. YOu and Chris should meet up. he lives here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=939+Thompson+Creek+Rd,+Jacksonville,+Oregon+97530&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.84182,58.710937&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr
We’re actually 4.5 hours south of Portland. About 15 miles from the California border. But if you ever want to come down and see the farm let me know. Be happy to show you around.
Another thought I had along this topic is the option of leasing land. We’ve leased land and it’s worked great. Granted we do own a piece of land now, but if the cogs of the wheel hadn’t fallen into place at the right time, we were willing to continuing leasing land to do what we wanted to do- grow food.
I feel a lot of people get their vision of what their goal is clouded by this necessity to “own” land. Whether one owns or leases it really is the same- you’re stewarding the land in both cases and that’s what the point is.
If we’re really going to revitalize the family farm we’re going to have to play by the current set of rules (so we can eventually change them a bit) and that involves accepting the fact that most land is owned by people who generally don’t use it for agriculture these days. We just have to convince them that we need to use it for agriculture. I found that just asking is all it takes. Literally.
Michael’s was such a classic story about how hard it is to get the money for a farm. Just not right. Chris makes a good point, looking into leasing the land. The one drawback that comes to mind, is it isn’t your land. So, if the owner of the land wants to sell it or use it for another purpose, all that hard work you put into it goes right out the window. I guess it depends on you as a farmer, your time, your income, your crops, your buyers. I did a story on another local urban farmer who leases land, and has been for years. She said it takes up to 3 years to get the process working right. She is on her 2nd or 3rd leased property (the past ones stopped the lease to change the use of land, so she moved on to another = more time to get back up to speed), and is under pressure to find yet another because the city land, which is an historical farm, wants to turn it into a dog park and soccer fields. I bumped into her a few months ago and she finally secured her own land outside the city (and surrounding suburbs) and is beginning the process there. If you’d like to hear her story, here it is:
http://cookingupastory.com/index.php/2006/08/08/food-network-community-supported-agriculture/
As an urban farmer she has been quite successful. But she doesn’t stop there. She is very involved locally in preserving land for farming, speaking at meetings and groups. As she says, once it’s gone, it’s gone. BTW, Michael Paine, of Gaining Ground Farm, sits (as the only farmer) on the Food Policy Council here in Portland. He originally thought (as he started graduate school) he would be a voice for the farmer, but loved to farm too much to give it up. And, as he says, farmers generally listen to farmers.
Back to New Zealand… I recently was filming on an acre of land up in the hills in Portland. Another urban farmer was bartering land for food. In exchange for produce, the landowner let the farmer use as much space as she needed. The landowner (a New Zealand native) said, in her homeland if you had land, you grew food. This way of doing it worked for both of the people involved. So, yes, get creative, make it work, however you can, and grow some food.
Chris, I’d like to come visit sometime. Perhaps later this summer. Let’s keep in touch.
Jay, Ryanne – thanks for starting this! I think we need to continue the conversation, and work toward making a better system. And, maybe some other folks will jump in here too! Lots of voices out there to be heard.
Rebecca
I agree. This is a good conversation. Although I understand the skepticism, I think there is a growing group of people jumping into farming/gardening.
Hell yeah! Now let’s get down to business, I don’t got no time to play around, what is this . . .
Looking forward to seeing Greenhorns the film! Looking for land myself to grow my own Garden of Eatin. I understand the argument for leasing but as for myself, I want to own the land – I’m primarily an orchardist – and trees are a longer term investment than row crops. I’m priced out of the Coasts so I’m looking in the Midwest and Southeast – next stop Fayetteville Arkansas. I feel middle America is where the growing foodie/small farm revolution will take place as more and more folks want to farm but are priced out of the Bay Area, So. Oregon,Western Mass … The momentum has only just begun.