A good part of our entertainment in Hawaii involves going to farmers’ markets. For those who come for the golf, the beaches, and shops, this may seem strange. We like the farmers’ markets in the Twin Cities too and those are far larger. They also have brats. Here, it is mostly fruits and vegetables. The produce is different enough to be a learning experience. We try lots of different things and some have become part of our year round diet. Some trials result in rejection.
I grew up on a farm - hogs, a few cattle, corn, and beans. I spent some time farming as a kid, but I knew early on this work was a temporary commitment to my family and nothing I wanted to pursue as a vocation. My childhood experiences were likely more similar to the daily lives of those selling produce at these markets than to the large farms with the huge and expensive equipment, the massive amounts of land under cultivation or the feed yards with hundreds of animals, or the high costs and risky borrowing necessary to get from one year to the next.
Big ag markets itself as feeding the world. The core idea of the claim somehow brings to my mind the sign associated with educators suggesting that if you can “read this sign thank a teacher”. Both professions want to be understood by others as essential and often worthy of government support. As I garden myself and partake in the work of those who cultivate and sell produce on a small scale, I have come to think of large scale farming as about raw material that contributes to multiple industries (fuel, fiber, food) as a way to differentiate this category of agriculture from those involved directly in growing and selling me food. Ag folks sometimes lament the lack of awareness of city kids who don’t understand where food comes from. I am not certain visiting an Iowa farm would do much to make the connection. Visiting a truck farm would.
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