I’m not talking about hipsters wearing “ironic” John Deere baseball caps.
PSFK recently posted (via Edible Brooklyn) about a nascent young farmers movement and its emerging name, Greenhorns.
Growing up in Iowa, I was surrounded by farming most of my life. At the same time, I was not raised in a farming family myself. So, my knowledge and understanding of the modern farming lifestyle falls somewhere in the middle between a concrete-imprisoned New Yorker and a dirt-under-the-nails Iowan farmer.
I haven’t seen The Greenhorns documentary yet, but I have already sensed the critical factor that will determine the success of this movement.
Will small farms, selling their products locally to the surrounding community, be hip enough to be sustainable?
Farming is hard work. The only guarantee is uncertainty. What will the weather be this year? Too wet to plant? Too dry to grow?
Future young farmers won’t be drawing to the profession by promises of fame or fortune. So what will they receive?
They will need to feel respected. They will need to feel valued. They will need to feel like others care.They will need to feel hip.
Besides, consumption of local produce is up against some innate obstacles today. It often costs more and/or requires more effort to obtain local produce than it does to jot down to the cheap mega-super-hyper-big-box grocery mart. Plus, eating locally leads to inevitable sacrifices. Can one ever buy a local orange in Iowa? Can a local banana be bought anywhere in the US?
Assuming that one’s decision to eat locally is voluntary, not mandated by, say, extreme carbon taxes, a serious change in behavior is required. This won’t be easy.
The Spendid Table radio show organized a group of people whom spent one year eating locally called the Locavore Nation. Such a task isn’t easy – it requires serious commitment and a drastic change of lifestyle just to find dinner on short notice. Imagine driving down the interstate at 11pm. McDonalds, Wendy’s, Subway, 7-Eleven, In-N-Out. Where’s the local food? Sorry, you’re eating long-distance or you’re going hungry tonight.
Unless you’re into foraging for edible greens in the median.
[via PSFK]
