FRUITS — AND VEGGIES — OF LABOR: Fresh from the fields. |
6) Farms are the new dot-coms.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the number of organic farms in this country (8493) has doubled since 2000, and the average age of organic-farm owners and workers (46) is lower than conventional farmers, whose average age is 52. Increasing opportunities for organic farmers are making farm work more attractive to young people, both in theory and in employment prospects.Indeed, more than one of the apprentices I spoke to during my volunteer days harbors dreams of starting her own farm.
Filmmaker, farmer, and food activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming dubs these young workers “the Greenhorns,” and she documents the trend in her forthcoming film of the same name. (Read a Q&A with her at thePhoenix.com/AboutTown; we’ll let you know when the film comes this way.)
“We young farmers are an emergent social movement. We exist,” she writes in her director’s statement, found at thegreenhorns.net. “We are serious, and if there were about 20 million of us, we could probably feed the whole United States. My premise is simple. If I can make a movie showing you what is possible, introduce you to these myriad rockstars, I believe I can inspire more of my generation to become farmers. Our job in this generation is to rethink, recycle, retrofit and restore our land and our community; the Greenhorns have come to this revelation and taken action. This film is a way to convene a movement that is for now quite thinly spread out on the ground. Population density of young farmers might be as low as 1-2 per county in America. Yet, once seen as a whole in the film, you will find it an attractive and coherent sub-culture: proud, strong, tough, and a little bit nuts.”
Yes, to spend a day pulling giant green caterpillars from tomato stalks — and in the case of apprentices, to do it for free, or volunteers, to do it during precious free time — may seem a bit mad. But it makes your next (hornworm-free) slice of heirloom tomato that much sweeter.
Levels of commitment
Random volunteer You call a farm, ask if they need help, and go there. You may get some produce in return, but you’ll definitely leave with the sense of satisfaction that comes with productive manual labor.
CSA member volunteer You pay for a season’s share of produce from one farm (prices range from $200 to $600 per season). You pick up your weekly share at the farm or at a farmers’ market. Plus you’re welcome at the farm for scheduled workdays or sporadic volunteer stints.
CSA work-for-share member Rather than pay for your share, you commit to work a certain number of hours at your farm per week or month, and then receive produce in return for your labor.
Farm apprentice or intern Basically, you give up your life for a full growing season in order to live on a farm, work long hours there daily for little-to-no pay, and learn almost everything there is to know about produce, livestock (if your farm has animals), farmers’ markets, farm economics, organic certification, and so on.
Farm employee You get paid to work on the farm.
