Grass is Great!

The second part of Micheal Pollen's book was a beautiful vision of how I could relate to my food. But the impossibility of a food revolution really brought my spirits down. And when farmer Joel didn't want to talk about the city folks who don't have the option of buying from Polyface, or farms like it, I was even more disheartened. It made me think back to a lecture that was given at Kalamazoo last quarter as a first-year seminar. Richard Heinberg, the journalist and educator, speaking about climate change and shortages and other ecological issues, told the attendees (mostly freshman) that one way young people could effect powerful change was to become farmers. I recall that the audience laughed and scoffed a little, thinking there was a catch, but he was serious. He was seriously telling young adults who pay sky-high tuition at a prestigious college in hopes of having a successful and financially comfortable future to go out into the world and farm. But after reading part of the dilemma I am convinced that that is exactly what would help bring the movement against the industrial food system to a higher level.

Of course, I don't think that will be my path; farming is just so much work. And to have a farm as intricate and specific as Joel's farm would mean no vacation time. It would mean physical labor for most of the day on most days. I was enthralled and impressed by the amount of work put forth by Joel and just two farm hands everyday. To be a farmer like Joel you would need to be smart, well read and well informed, physically and mentally strong, creative and inventive. You would need determination and endurance not only to wake up but then to get through the rest of the day too. Although farming requires a variety of tasks from hour to hour and day to day I think my biggest challenge if I were to farm would be restlessness. Staying on the farm would get lonely I imagine. All these thoughts swirled while I read the chapters on farmer Joel and vaguely considered a future in agriculture. The story down on the farm intrigued me so intensely because the fact that organic isn't really what I thought it was is what concerns me the most about the insight Pollen has given in this section.

"The biggest problem with alternative agriculture (includes organic farming) today, is that it seeks to incorporate bits and pieces of the industrial model and bits and pieces of the artisanal model. This will not work...In the middle of the road, you get the worst of both worlds."--Allan Nation, Stockman Grass Farmer

The middle of the road is the worst because it is as lacking in transparency and as active in indirect dishonesty as the industrial food system. Selling out is what I like to call people like Gene Kahn. He is so comfortable with his decision--it was infuriating. "It wasn't successful", said Kahn on page 153 referring to a cooperative community and a local food system. The systemic problem seems to be the ingrained belief that food is a commodity to sell and profit on like any other commodity. So in addition to being farmers we need to be able to spread the idea that food is something different.