There is an old saying around the farm “The chicken may be committed to making breakfast, but the pig, well he’s dedicated.” The point is to be successful farming, one has to be dedicated, not just committed.
Passion for Lifestyle
Emily’s second observation has been that not everyone has a passion for farming. That’s okay, there are many parts in the anatomy of a body as there are many parts to any ecosystem. The goal is not to make everyone farmers. The goal is to allow everyone who has a passion to farm live their dream in order to build a better community.
In order to build a sustainable urban farm, the individual must be invested. Only 1% of new farms will succeed. In the US we are losing 10,000 farmers a day due to an aging population. Commercial agriculture has a niche, just as the small farmer has a niche. One size doesn’t fit all. Emily went on to express how there may only be one out of ten people that may actually want to farm. And that is okay. The transferable life skills, education, sense of community, and security of having food on the table are all benefits. Make no mistake, farming is a business and business skills are transferable. She has seen many people get started, then fail, and move on because they didn’t have a passion for the lifestyle.
So this begs the question, “What can we do to encourage urban farming?” More importantly, “Why do we want to encourage urban farming?” Finally, “How can we ensure the urban farmer’s success?”
Stay tuned for Part 5 Tying it Together: Community, Knowledge and Passion.
So, if you have a passion and want to start an urban farm, call me to help you with your legal needs!
