Friday, November 7

Young Farmers Movement


There is a growing "Young Farmers" movement in the US --
The young farmers now emerging onto the land seek to reclaim, restore, and resettle the deserted rural towns of America. We are similarly poised to revive the fabric of urban life with markets, gardens, bees, corn patches and waterways. Motivated by a force of intention that cannot be rationalized economically, with lives driven by an instinct for direct action and stewardship that honors the planet, people, and place, we are the allies of every American. Our instincts are emboldened by the mercury shatter of dew on the broccoli plants at dawn, by the roar of pollinators in a flowering crop of buckwheat, and by the river of neighbors streaming through the farm-gate clamoring for "real" tomatoes and happy chickens. The hands of young farmers on the land seek to push forward an agenda of sustainability on a human scale. ~ link (via)
The idea is good. The rhetoric is poetic. And there are lots of affordable opportunities in the more rural settings. If I hadn't been called to pastoral ministry I might have ended up in farming. Of course, I wouldn't have known how attractive farming is if I hadn't served two congregations in agricultural towns.

1 comment:

R. Mansfield said...

I love that picture.