Why do we farm? Is it because we were raised as farmers? Although Michelle was raised in a rural area and her grandparents taught her many skills for sustainable living, her parents were not farmers and Eric was raised in the suburbs, safely tucked away from any realization of where food came from. He visited his ranching grandparents a few times. But they were raising hundreds of head of conventional cattle on a 1600 acre spread. It was as different from what we do now as you can get and still call it farming.
Is it the money? The $500 for a full share we are asking our friends for? Probably not considering that between the investment we are making in each garden bed (about $100) and the labor it takes to plant (about four hours for every weekly basket we sell) we are losing money hand over fist.
Is it the freedom? Well, it might be, if it weren’t for the fact that we are now enslaved to our goats, chickens and produce beds. Constantly having to water them, feed them, shelter them, weed them, pick them and love them. When our kids ask us, “when are we going on vacation again?” We say, “Not this year, I’m afraid, not anytime soon.”
Is it the bragging rights? Do we get to feel self-righteous? Yes, a little, but pride is a poor motivator for back-breaking manual labor and hands that never really come clean. But it does raise an interesting issue. If we were to feel self-righteous it would probably be because by farming we are swimming upstream against a current that is eroding our hopes for a sustainable food system. We do find that something to be proud of.
But more importantly we farm because eating and growing food have never been so disconnected from one another in the history of the human race. We chose a CSA model because we not only want to reconnect ourselves to the food we eat, but as many other people as we can. We farm because the only solution to “Big Agriculture” is small agriculture. On our 2.76 acres we hope to support 6 families this year. We would be lucky to support 60 in three years time and it is probably not possible to support more than 100. We are a small part of the solution to a very big problem. But before large scale policies can fix what’s broken about our food system, we need more small scale farmers and eaters who know their farmer.
We farm because we were not raised as farmers, and only two percent of Americans know anything about farming anymore. Most of them don’t actually know how to grow food for themselves or their neighbor. They know how to grow for international commodity markets. If anything should change in our fragile societal house of cards and food on the grocery store shelves get sparse, it might be a good idea to be able to grow your own, or at least know someone who does.
We farm because most of what we can get at the grocery store, was made in a factory from things that were factory farmed. We want to know where our food comes from and we want you to know too. We farm because much of what passes as food today can’t be reproduced without high-tech chemistry and expensive engineering to procure it. Much of it causes as much damage as it provides nutrients and we are tired of watching our neighbors get sicker and more tired and never knowing that the thing that is supposed to sustain them is hurting them.
These are all important reasons for us to farm. But there is one more reason, one selfish reason that has little to do with politics or economics or failed federal policies. We love it. Simple as that. We love the feeling we get when we walk out our door and see our happy chickens wandering unchecked in our field. We love the sensation of sticking our hands in dark earth to bring new life forth, and knowing that we are part of a cycle of consumption and production and renewal. We are of this earth now. We are these plants and these animals. We are connected to all of it, the acequia water, the cottonwood forest, the warm dry air and the bright shining sun that powers our lives here on planet earth. We farm because at the end of the day, there is nothing we would rather do.
-Eric Chrisp,
Farming Co-Owner
Is it the money? The $500 for a full share we are asking our friends for? Probably not considering that between the investment we are making in each garden bed (about $100) and the labor it takes to plant (about four hours for every weekly basket we sell) we are losing money hand over fist.
Is it the freedom? Well, it might be, if it weren’t for the fact that we are now enslaved to our goats, chickens and produce beds. Constantly having to water them, feed them, shelter them, weed them, pick them and love them. When our kids ask us, “when are we going on vacation again?” We say, “Not this year, I’m afraid, not anytime soon.”
Is it the bragging rights? Do we get to feel self-righteous? Yes, a little, but pride is a poor motivator for back-breaking manual labor and hands that never really come clean. But it does raise an interesting issue. If we were to feel self-righteous it would probably be because by farming we are swimming upstream against a current that is eroding our hopes for a sustainable food system. We do find that something to be proud of.
But more importantly we farm because eating and growing food have never been so disconnected from one another in the history of the human race. We chose a CSA model because we not only want to reconnect ourselves to the food we eat, but as many other people as we can. We farm because the only solution to “Big Agriculture” is small agriculture. On our 2.76 acres we hope to support 6 families this year. We would be lucky to support 60 in three years time and it is probably not possible to support more than 100. We are a small part of the solution to a very big problem. But before large scale policies can fix what’s broken about our food system, we need more small scale farmers and eaters who know their farmer.
We farm because we were not raised as farmers, and only two percent of Americans know anything about farming anymore. Most of them don’t actually know how to grow food for themselves or their neighbor. They know how to grow for international commodity markets. If anything should change in our fragile societal house of cards and food on the grocery store shelves get sparse, it might be a good idea to be able to grow your own, or at least know someone who does.
We farm because most of what we can get at the grocery store, was made in a factory from things that were factory farmed. We want to know where our food comes from and we want you to know too. We farm because much of what passes as food today can’t be reproduced without high-tech chemistry and expensive engineering to procure it. Much of it causes as much damage as it provides nutrients and we are tired of watching our neighbors get sicker and more tired and never knowing that the thing that is supposed to sustain them is hurting them.
These are all important reasons for us to farm. But there is one more reason, one selfish reason that has little to do with politics or economics or failed federal policies. We love it. Simple as that. We love the feeling we get when we walk out our door and see our happy chickens wandering unchecked in our field. We love the sensation of sticking our hands in dark earth to bring new life forth, and knowing that we are part of a cycle of consumption and production and renewal. We are of this earth now. We are these plants and these animals. We are connected to all of it, the acequia water, the cottonwood forest, the warm dry air and the bright shining sun that powers our lives here on planet earth. We farm because at the end of the day, there is nothing we would rather do.
-Eric Chrisp,
Farming Co-Owner