<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Linguistic insights into agriculture]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by PermieWriter http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:48:51 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/1 The farming perspective

The farmer/gardener question is an interesting one. My husband (greenengineer) and I ran a small berry farm in Sonoma County for three years. It was only two acres, but it kept us busy part-time. We hired pruners and pickers (from the local, ag-enthusiast community), registered organic, sold lots of berries and just about broke even. In the one year it went well. If you don't count our labor for anything.
Since then we moved to a more urban/suburban area, but we garden nearly every square inch of ground. When I say, "We used to be farmers," people correct me. They say, "Once a farmer, always a farmer." They're certainly right in our case. Feeding people is a way of life, and one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.

Eat what you grow, grow what you eat


]]> The farming perspective

The farmer/gardener question is an interesting one. My husband (greenengineer) and I ran a small berry farm in Sonoma County for three years. It was only two acres, but it kept us busy part-time. We hired pruners and pickers (from the local, ag-enthusiast community), registered organic, sold lots of berries and just about broke even. In the one year it went well. If you don't count our labor for anything.
Since then we moved to a more urban/suburban area, but we garden nearly every square inch of ground. When I say, "We used to be farmers," people correct me. They say, "Once a farmer, always a farmer." They're certainly right in our case. Feeding people is a way of life, and one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.

Eat what you grow, grow what you eat


]]> Comment #2 by Delay And Deny http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:39:36 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/2 Farms, Exurbs, Transportation


A beautifully written essay (just what I would expect from an English major!).

I have questioned current Green notions about density.   The Grist/Green ideal seems to be high density urban, vertical with rail transport.

Their anathema is exurban sprawl with cars.

There is also rural (farm) which is less dense yet I would think Grist/Green likes that more than exurbs because it is a producing system.

You are saying that majority of the world lives in a  kind of garden suburbia because their small farms, elbow to elbow (or chicken to chicken) are more like the density of my home town of Kent, Washington than the density of downtown Seattle, or big farm Yakima.

So, a good solution is pushing more production to the homeowner-gardener-farmer rather than simply making the Urban-Office Worker model "more efficient" with solar powered trams.

The idea is: put the production (farming, programming, accounting, lathing, machining) back in the household with all the needed "security" financial mechanisms embodied in our information systems so the farm that fails or the business that runs out of capital doesn't result in starving children or displaced widows.

J. Bailo Participant Texeme.Construct()



]]> Farms, Exurbs, Transportation


A beautifully written essay (just what I would expect from an English major!).

I have questioned current Green notions about density.   The Grist/Green ideal seems to be high density urban, vertical with rail transport.

Their anathema is exurban sprawl with cars.

There is also rural (farm) which is less dense yet I would think Grist/Green likes that more than exurbs because it is a producing system.

You are saying that majority of the world lives in a  kind of garden suburbia because their small farms, elbow to elbow (or chicken to chicken) are more like the density of my home town of Kent, Washington than the density of downtown Seattle, or big farm Yakima.

So, a good solution is pushing more production to the homeowner-gardener-farmer rather than simply making the Urban-Office Worker model "more efficient" with solar powered trams.

The idea is: put the production (farming, programming, accounting, lathing, machining) back in the household with all the needed "security" financial mechanisms embodied in our information systems so the farm that fails or the business that runs out of capital doesn't result in starving children or displaced widows.

J. Bailo Participant Texeme.Construct()



]]> Comment #3 by Sam Wells http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:08:59 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/3 a "farmer"

Great writing is always a please to peruse.

Basically, a person is a farmer is he or she calls himself or herself one.  A refinement on that argument is if other farmers call you one, a title that takes years to earn.  End of story.

Many lie though, like absent landlords owning thousands of acres of agricultural lands which is all leased, subcontracted, and hedged on the commodity market.  That's no farmer - that's called a speculator or investor.

And then there's the jolly rancher, and watch out because many farm as well but they call themselves ranchers and are seen by others as ranchers.  The only exception I can think of is if you're into livestock such as dogs, you'd be accused of running a "puppy mill."

Sounds horrible!  

Can you imagine me saying "My name is Sam Wells and I'm a puppy mill operator"?  Not that I am but I think people would start throwing stuff at me if I sounded serious.  sigh

But in the US unless you do it all, cultivation to selling the product like at a farmer's market, you're really just an "agricultural jobber."  Yup, they hire tractor crews and fertilizer applicators and pesticide sprayers and pickers and cultivators and packagers and storage units and truckers (many farmers are into trucking).  

Whatever they call themselves ...

Onward through the fog

]]> a "farmer"

Great writing is always a please to peruse.

Basically, a person is a farmer is he or she calls himself or herself one.  A refinement on that argument is if other farmers call you one, a title that takes years to earn.  End of story.

Many lie though, like absent landlords owning thousands of acres of agricultural lands which is all leased, subcontracted, and hedged on the commodity market.  That's no farmer - that's called a speculator or investor.

And then there's the jolly rancher, and watch out because many farm as well but they call themselves ranchers and are seen by others as ranchers.  The only exception I can think of is if you're into livestock such as dogs, you'd be accused of running a "puppy mill."

Sounds horrible!  

Can you imagine me saying "My name is Sam Wells and I'm a puppy mill operator"?  Not that I am but I think people would start throwing stuff at me if I sounded serious.  sigh

But in the US unless you do it all, cultivation to selling the product like at a farmer's market, you're really just an "agricultural jobber."  Yup, they hire tractor crews and fertilizer applicators and pesticide sprayers and pickers and cultivators and packagers and storage units and truckers (many farmers are into trucking).  

Whatever they call themselves ...

Onward through the fog

]]> Comment #4 by Podchef http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:17:52 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/who-is-a-farmer/4 The Weekend Farmer

A great post on a subject dear to my heart.

I believe there is a whole culture of "Weekend Farmers" out there--those who cultivate land from Friday night to late Sunday evening, or perhaps Monday morning as they pick something for lunch on their way back to the 9-to-5. These people garden/farm because it feeds their soul, their bodies and their neighbors. Raising food is in ones blood somehow, no matter how you are raised. Sure you can learn to grow food and succeed. But others are driven to it by forces beyond.

But our society doesn't reward Farmers in general, let alone "Weekend Farmers". If you have less than 50 acres you're a "gardener" or a "hobby farmer". If you have more than 50 acres and grow crops or livestock you are "dirty", "smelly", a "polluter", or worse yet--for 90% of impoverished growers--"greedy". But who else toils for next to nothing to grow food? Who else stays off any sort of rest, relaxation, or expense for 8 months of the year, and then takes time off only during the worst of the seasons? People seem to forget "The Farmer is the one who feeds us all."

For many of us farming is a lifestyle choice. Weekend, part-time or full time subsistence farmer we enjoy the outdoors, the animals, the people, the freedom which can come with a rural existence. I believe the same can be said of those who religiously grow in allotments. I think it is long overdue to celebrate the "Weekend Farmer" and long past due to stop elevating the "Weekend Warrior" to hero status. Now more than  ever we need swords beat to plow shares.

You have a choice--drive or eat--which will it be?

]]> The Weekend Farmer

A great post on a subject dear to my heart.

I believe there is a whole culture of "Weekend Farmers" out there--those who cultivate land from Friday night to late Sunday evening, or perhaps Monday morning as they pick something for lunch on their way back to the 9-to-5. These people garden/farm because it feeds their soul, their bodies and their neighbors. Raising food is in ones blood somehow, no matter how you are raised. Sure you can learn to grow food and succeed. But others are driven to it by forces beyond.

But our society doesn't reward Farmers in general, let alone "Weekend Farmers". If you have less than 50 acres you're a "gardener" or a "hobby farmer". If you have more than 50 acres and grow crops or livestock you are "dirty", "smelly", a "polluter", or worse yet--for 90% of impoverished growers--"greedy". But who else toils for next to nothing to grow food? Who else stays off any sort of rest, relaxation, or expense for 8 months of the year, and then takes time off only during the worst of the seasons? People seem to forget "The Farmer is the one who feeds us all."

For many of us farming is a lifestyle choice. Weekend, part-time or full time subsistence farmer we enjoy the outdoors, the animals, the people, the freedom which can come with a rural existence. I believe the same can be said of those who religiously grow in allotments. I think it is long overdue to celebrate the "Weekend Farmer" and long past due to stop elevating the "Weekend Warrior" to hero status. Now more than  ever we need swords beat to plow shares.

You have a choice--drive or eat--which will it be?

]]>