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A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

washingtonpost.com

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Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#221

Post by jacobush »

copenja wrote: post #166
metamet wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They want to distinguish themselves and buy the feeling of authentic life and values. More than this, I think there is a substantial portion of consumers who aren't as much attempting to distinguish themselves as they are realizing how important their dollar vote is. Buying from a small or local farm keeps money circulating locally (ideally). When there is a community of local businesses, this becomes amplified. It…

For what it's worth, almost all McDonald's are franchises. If you buy a breakfast sandwich there, the money likely goes to a local owner.

some of it

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#222

Post by cardamomo »

zokier wrote: post #210
clord wrote: post #112

We did this. My wife has a masters in microbio, and I worked at IBM on their C++ and for Fortran compilers for about 8 years (yay std::atomics). I still do remote contract work to help pay for upgrades to the farm. Would be nice to get one of my side-projects finished and start pumping out some income streams, but it's not a big rush anymore. I have a point of sale system built with React and Haskell that integrates…

> Modern life is a dystopic hellscape from this perspective Hellscape, yes, but that hellscape also has funded your farm and that is something that I'd keep in mind. It is pretty big luxury to be able to (financially) go and live on the countryside, doing farming more as a lifestyle rather than means to livelihood.

I think this is a hugely important point. The article highlights some of the systematic hurdles facing would-be farmers, including the cost of land and student loan payments. However, it also highlights some possible solutions.

This is a throwaway point in the article, but I think it's key to imagining a food system and economy that can support this kind of farm:

> Young farmers are also creating their own “food hubs,” allowing them to store, process and market food collectively, and supply grocery and restaurant chains at a price competitive with national suppliers.

Sure, monetary wealth from corporate desk jobs may be necessary to fund farms right now, but small farmers have a lot more power to shape our food system when they band together. Agricultural cooperatives have a long history in the United States [0] and may have a role to play in keeping the new crop of small farmers in business.

[0] http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/whatisacoop/History/#Development_in...

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#223

Post by scott_s »

Nomentatus wrote: post #211
mseebach wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only intuitively makes sense -- there are quite a few assumptions. The local product is typically more expensive because it's production is less efficient (if it wasn't, it would just compete with the non-local product at regular market conditions). Being less efficient means using more inputs per output, so what is the local farmers inputs, and -- crucially -- where are those inputs made? Is he using his not-loca…

The biggest efficiency is nutritional, and taste - varieties that travel very, very well trade off a lot of nutrition for that trait.

From the studies I have heard about, there is no measurable nutritional difference between organic and non-organic food. See https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/no-health-benefits-from-org...

I am unaware of such studies for small farms versus large farms.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#225

Post by andrewjl »

figurehe4d wrote: post #219
zokier wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Modern life is a dystopic hellscape from this perspective Hellscape, yes, but that hellscape also has funded your farm and that is something that I'd keep in mind. It is pretty big luxury to be able to (financially) go and live on the countryside, doing farming more as a lifestyle rather than means to livelihood.

True, and it's also not for everyone. Maybe things will change when I'm older but speaking from my perspective, I was born and raised in a dense suburb, moved to the countryside because my folks grew up in the country and wanted to leave the dense suburb/corporate dystopia or what have you. Its just not for me, I'm a city boy. I like being close to other people. I feel comfortable with busy areas (like a downtown dis…

I grew up in a dense city, and feel the same way. Currently work in a suburb and live in SF, and I especially enjoy the close proximity to lots of people. That said it is nice to spend some time outdoors and walk the soil barefoot!

It's a personal choice, do what works for you.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#226

Post by dsfyu404ed »

nabla9 wrote: post #39

Some commentators here have difficulty of understanding how small farming can be profitable. It's relatively easy to explain. They are not selling just the product. Just like microbreweries, small farms sell for people who want more than just a beer or lettuce. They want to distinguish themselves and buy the feeling of authentic life and values. Consumer pays more for "small farm" even if the product is not any diffe…

If/when the economy has a major hiccup all those sellers of "distinguished" goods will have a very hard time because people will pay their mortgages first even if that means drinking PBR and eating GMO grown frozen broccoli. The upper middle class aren't a very stable or loyal set of customers.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#227

Post by zw123456 »

Hahaha. Wow, I grew up on a farm and I went to college and got an engineering degree to get away from it! I can't even imagine going the other direction.

I still remember bucking hay, mowing the tansy, running the irrigation truck, taking care of the chickens and dozens of other chores I hated. To me, it was not the least bit fun.

I wonder how many of these people romanticize the life style and after a few years will change their minds. I admit, I am probably jaded, but I think they are crazy :)

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#228

Post by ibizaman »

ruc0la wrote: post #18

I am doing pretty much the same. I am currently an engineering student, working part-time as a programmer. Although the job market for programmers is excellent in Europe, I bought an apple orchard (via loan) pretty close to the capital of the country where I live. Due to the proximity of the capital city, I can sell my product at a decent price and earn more than an average senior dev here. I also enjoy being outside…

Are there good spots in Europe? I was in Belgium and wasn't satisfied (too corporate jobs or underpaid jobs) so I moved to the US and now can afford on one salary an apartment near Venice Beach in LA, CA with my wife and two kids whule having a family life. Living on one salary, even just with my wife at the time, was impossible in Belgium.

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#229

Post by PeachPlum »

nabla9 wrote: post #39

Some commentators here have difficulty of understanding how small farming can be profitable. It's relatively easy to explain. They are not selling just the product. Just like microbreweries, small farms sell for people who want more than just a beer or lettuce. They want to distinguish themselves and buy the feeling of authentic life and values. Consumer pays more for "small farm" even if the product is not any diffe…

I think you're wrong.

Look up Justin Rhodes on YouTube or Joel Salatin.

Small holding is profitable once you get over the hump and get customers

Re: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

#230

Post by sliverstorm »

zw123456 wrote: post #227

Hahaha. Wow, I grew up on a farm and I went to college and got an engineering degree to get away from it! I can't even imagine going the other direction. I still remember bucking hay, mowing the tansy, running the irrigation truck, taking care of the chickens and dozens of other chores I hated. To me, it was not the least bit fun. I wonder how many of these people romanticize the life style and after a few years will…

If you come in with capital assets and marketable tech skills to fall back on, maybe you get to pick and choose which parts of farming you want. I imagine some crops or animals are more enjoyable than others.
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