Photograph: Leah Nash for the NY Times
Tyler and Alicia Jones on their farm in Corvallis, Ore.
I’ve blogged before about young people who are attracted to farming. Here, I wrote about a friend’s great niece raising organic chickens on a farm in Connecticut.
At the same time, I have been reading about the phenomenon. For example, Dawn Thilmany and S. Sureshwaran wrote in a publication called Choices about “Innovations to Support Beginning Farmers and Ranchers.” And the USDA has increased the numbers of programs they have for beginners.
Recently, Isolde Raftery wrote in the NY Times about a young farming couple in Corvallis, Oregon.
“For years, Tyler Jones, a livestock farmer,” Raftery wrote, “avoided telling his grandfather how disillusioned he had become with industrial farming.
“After all, his grandfather had worked closely with Earl L. Butz, the former federal secretary of agriculture who was known for saying, ‘Get big or get out.’
“But several weeks before his grandfather died, Mr. Jones broached the subject. His grandfather surprised him. ‘You have to fix what Earl and I messed up,’ Mr. Jones said his grandfather told him.
“Now, Mr. Jones, 30, and his wife, Alicia, 27, are among an emerging group of people in their 20s and 30s who have chosen farming as a career. Many shun industrial, mechanized farming and list punk rock, Karl Marx and the food journalist Michael Pollan as their influences. The Joneses say they and their peers are succeeding because of Oregon’s farmer-foodie culture, which demands grass-fed and pasture-raised meats. …
“Garry Stephenson, coordinator of the Small Farms Program at Oregon State University, said he had not seen so much interest among young people in decades. ‘It’s kind of exciting,’ Mr. Stephenson said. ‘They’re young, they’re energetic and idealist, and they’re willing to make the sacrifices.’ ” Read more.
Check out the National Young Farmers Coalition, here.
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