It's About The Farming, Folks!

Today's post is a bit of an editorial. Forgive me if any of it offends you, it wasn't meant to. And as always, no farmers were hurt in the making of this post.

If you've been here for any amount of time, you'll know. We advocate farming. Across the board. This ain't about whether you are some guy who's been doing it for three decades, on three thousand acres, just like your daddy and his daddy. It ain't about whether you're some upstart greenhorn getting your first 5 acres. It ain't about whether you are getting the heck outta dodge, moving outta the big city to grab some land. And it ain't about whether you decide to stay in dodge, and plant a rooftop garden or create a backyard farm, instead.

We want you to farm. Farming, my friends, will save the world.

In fact, I firmly believe that farming cures just about all ills the world now offers. Think about it: when the world was more agrarian, you had the family unit, working together, to get a shared goal, and their own sustainability, secured. The kids didn't have to travel hundreds of miles, leaving their parents. The seniors in the group were valued for their wisdom--if they were no longer strong enough, their time tested advice was of help. They were not carted off to senior citizens homes, nor did their children have to leave to find work...so the family unit stayed together.

Food was good. Literally--without the advent of pesticides and processing, you ate well, got sicker less, and saved yourself money. If you didn't have something, you bartered with the neighbors--there was more "community outreach" this way, whether due to necessity or not, but there it was. You were more healthy because of your food, and even your clothes were gotten by the growing of flax (linen) or sheep (wool). You were not spending your money down the pipeline to some foreign country. Local businesses thrived, and were supported.

The gym? Heck, you stayed in shape by the sweat of your brow. A good workout was the daily workout on the farm. You were outdoors, breathing fresh air, hopefully admiring nature, and respecting it in all of it's beautiful and terrible forms.

Animals? There was no factory farming, no treating them like mass commodities. The natural life of animals was to be found on grass and air, so the meat, milk, and eggs were much more nutritious (not to mention tastier). And, because you often had to kill your animals, I suspect you'll have a greater respect for the meat you eat. I've yet to hear of a person who processes their own meat who jokes around about it, thinks any of it is an easy or funny thing.

You get the idea, right? How the heck we've lost our way from this natural world, one of hard work, healthier eating, working with the seasons, I don't know. Oh--wait--I do know. CONVENIENCE.

Yes, my friends, it's easy to want the EASY life. In the process, we get "the next guy" to do it. We run from the hard work, we rely on others to make our food, our clothes, pipe water down the line for us. When we do this, we send the reliance of the HONESTY of the process down the line. You can't be shocked to know that there is wood pulp, corn syrup, even HUMAN GENES in some food, right? Because the next guy isn't interested in feeding you. Nope. He's interested in making money. Fast. It is a food business after all.

Currently, this great country of America has only ONE PERCENT of land that is farmland. And it keeps getting diminished--again--in the name of money. Big developers want to obliterate it, all in the name of strip malls, high rises, suburb lots...you name it.

Bring the nation back to farming, I say. Grow your own food. You will know, then, how the food was handled. Or support your local small, organic farmers. Be less afraid of toil. You are, after all, toiling for the health of your family and the truth of your existence.  And YOU can't farm, encourage others to do it.

It's all about the farming, folks!