by Paul Hunter

The foremost problem in this depressed economy, strange to say, is not jobs,

but livelihoods. Every one of us craves engagement in meaningful work that

expresses and enhances our identity. It is the mindset and thinking about

jobs that got us where we are today, mechanizing all we can, then

outsourcing like crazy, as if work itself were an unnecessary part of

living. There is a clear distinction and vast gulf between jobs and

callings, where one is focused on income and what you must stomach doing to

get paid, while the other contemplates skilled effort that has an intrinsic

value, where one’s society might benefit beyond any notions of recompense.

The trouble is, we have mechanized many kinds of work out of existence,

broken the connectedness of tasks and assigned each meaningless and trivial

part to a different person, without regard to their desires and abilities.

And the expectations of what’s a living wage in this country have been

inflated to the point of absurdity.

Set in this context, consider the tonic that is farming. It is the essence

of right livelihood, a set of tasks with continuity, foresight and deepening

engagement in the very sources of life. Pursued in the open, on a modest

scale, it harms nothing, and helps the rest of humanity thrive. The only

problem has been that the traditional craft and calling of farming have been

denigrated, belittled and dismissed. Manipulations at the industrial scale

have the farmer practically giving his labor away, machining the fields in

what all too often resembles the drudgery of any wage-slave. And while he

receives the smallest share of the profit for any food reaching the dinner

table, he still must shoulder the risks of crop failure unknown to any

cornflake processor or supermarket.

Fortunately this large-scale model is changing, and in that change are

countless opportunities. People who crave good food they can trust are

taking serious steps: some are forming partnerships with local farmers, and

some are growing it for themselves. Many small farmers have returned to

face-to-face sales in local farmers’ markets, where they create informal

ongoing relationships that last decades. Restauranteurs and schools are

forming ties with farms and farmers, to insure safe and sustainable sources

for their food. All these efforts are closing the loop, restoring a sense

of meaning, accountability and flow to the arts and crafts inherent in

growing food.

Some afterthoughts. Nearly all the current movement is happening without

government intervention or incentive, due mostly to the fact that federal

and state agencies have long been the recipients of large-scale lobbying by

industrial agriculture’s economic partners-an alliance of chemical and

bioseed and equipment industries, oil companies and big box food retailers.

Agricultural legislation drafted by lobbyists is often misdirected and

behind the curve, blaming and restricting small farming for the sins of

industrial farming. There does seem to be a shift in some agricultural

colleges, which until recently have been unabashed apologists for the

supposed benefits of industrial agriculture. Change is in the air, and it’s

not about jobs-it’s about callings. Governments and schools could help, or

at least get out of the way, and quit turning young people away when they

ask how to get into farming.