I will wash the dishes while you go have a beer
Where is my Marlboro man
Where is his shiny gun
Where is my lonely ranger
Where have all the cowboys gone
Yippee yo, yippee yeah
Where is my Marlboro man
Where is his shiny gun
Where is my lonely ranger
Where have all the cowboys gone
Yippee yo, yippee yeah
The Paula Cole song, Where have all the Cowboys Gone? has been inextricably lodged in my mind as I've thought about this post. I have to admit I didn't know much more of the song than its eponymous chorus. When I took a deeper look at the lyrics, I had to laugh that the archaic cowboy isn't so much gone as he has set down his beer to help with the dishes and accepted that smoking causes cancer. He has evolved.
I hope we will someday be able to say the say when we ask ourselves, "Where have all the farmers gone?" that they have similarly evolved --not necessarily still looking like the farmers of children's books yet all the better adapted to meet the modern needs of their environment.
According to a 2011 NPR interview with the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture the average age of the American farmer is now 57 and the US "had a 30 percent increase in the number of farmers over the age of 75 and a 20 percent decrease in the number of farmers under the age of 25". Documentaries like Food, Inc. have powerfully documented some of the cultural shifts that underpin this declining demographic. Many family farms have transitioned from being small, independent businesses where a farmer was free to pursue his entrepreneurial spirit to mono-crop operations that are often in debt to mega-food manufacturers.
However, amidst these grim numbers are more hopeful stats on the diversifying nature of farmers. According to Farm Aid, the number of farms managed by women rose 13% between 1997 and 2002, and roughly 1 in 10 farms is run by a woman. Also, the average age of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm is 43 --indicating that younger farmers are taking on innovative, sustainable farming methods.
At Iron Fish Farms, we look forward to joining the leagues of other farmers who are helping the modern cowboy to re-emerge... Yippee yo, yippee yeah!
According to a 2011 NPR interview with the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture the average age of the American farmer is now 57 and the US "had a 30 percent increase in the number of farmers over the age of 75 and a 20 percent decrease in the number of farmers under the age of 25". Documentaries like Food, Inc. have powerfully documented some of the cultural shifts that underpin this declining demographic. Many family farms have transitioned from being small, independent businesses where a farmer was free to pursue his entrepreneurial spirit to mono-crop operations that are often in debt to mega-food manufacturers.
However, amidst these grim numbers are more hopeful stats on the diversifying nature of farmers. According to Farm Aid, the number of farms managed by women rose 13% between 1997 and 2002, and roughly 1 in 10 farms is run by a woman. Also, the average age of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm is 43 --indicating that younger farmers are taking on innovative, sustainable farming methods.
At Iron Fish Farms, we look forward to joining the leagues of other farmers who are helping the modern cowboy to re-emerge... Yippee yo, yippee yeah!
No comments:
Post a Comment