Here is a modified version of a journal entry I created earlier today that Miss Kate wanted to read.

I say it is modified because the original is filled with incomplete thoughts and is written quite sloppy. Just as a heads up, these ideas were sparked from agirlandherwoods post about the future generations of farmers in America. You may want to give it a quick skim before reading this, (to make it simple, I reblogged it on here earlier).

“I recently read a post from a friend of mine that discussed the future of farming in the States. It isn’t something I generally think about much, or at all for that matter, but this got me thinking. Where is our food going to come from in five, ten, fifteen years from now?

There is a general distaste for food that has been loaded with pesticides and hormones in America, and yet few are willing to grow and raise their own animals and produce. Who in this day and age tells their children they can grow up to be a farmer? Everyone wants to be a scientist, artist, lawyer, doctor, or teacher. If most parents heard their children tell them they want to run their own ranch someday, they would brush it off as a childish dream and wonder what their kid would really accomplish; as if providing food for their family, community, and country wasn’t some noble deed.

I, until quite recently, had been tricked into that kind of thinking too. I can see current Shelby telling past Shelby, even from just a year ago, that she was insane if she ever thought she was going to live on a farm. But right now, it appeals greatly to me. I think it has something to do with this life of simplicity I have been slowly adopting. I’ve been constantly filtering out unused and forgotten stuff left sitting under my bed, in my closet, buried in drawers, and on my bookshelf. I have been trying to teach myself things that will be worth something to me: cooking, French, painting, guitar. I am saving up paychecks for a journey to Nepal to help teach at-risk children and Tibetan refugees. I no longer put much emphasis on material items and social status in the world. All of these things have opened my mind to new possibilities and lifestyles that seem uncommon. In 2012, having a simple life is not a common thing. I want to know why not.

But to veer back on topic a bit more, I am siting in my backyard, feeding my puppies baby carrots, and wondering who grew these carrots. What man or woman decided to take up a role in society thousands of years old to help feed people? Could I someday be one of those people? I wonder if there is any relatively cheap fertile land somewhere left unspoiled by man I could build myself a nice cabin and barn on. There would be marvelous gardens and orchards. I would own pigs, horses, cows, and chickens; live the ancient but respected life of farming and traveling. Maybe I could one day buy the land my great grandmother lived on and I explored so many summers ago—all two hundred acres of it. Better to start now while I’m young, right? *sigh* It sounds dreamy.

I don’t understand why that lifestyle is not more encouraged today, but I do know that if it isn’t soon, we will be in a major food crisis. There are so many people who cannot eat or drink dairy or consume gluten or other common things because of how poorly our food is manufactured. I mean, just the fact that our food is manufactured is a sign something isn’t right. These problems did not exist nearly as often when farming was a common career, when people cared about what they were creating and eating. I don’t know, I don’t really have a great instant solution to this, I just wanted to throw some thoughts out there. They probably were not 100% coherent, but that’s okay. At least I said what I wanted to say.”

9.11.12. farming,organic,america,usa,food,hormones,gluten free,lactose intolerant,home grown,future,jobs,