In my political thought classes at Furman Dr. Storey has often referenced the book “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of  Work” by Matthew Crawford. Soulcraft being “something that shapes and modifies one’s soul or core being.” The idea of this book is to emphasize, in an increasingly hands-off world, the good that manual labor can do for your soul. Seeing as how I am someone who has had minimal exposure to any sort of manual labor this made me think that this was an experience lacking in my life. My decision to attend the farm was reinforced when a visiting professor talked about The Tempest and its theme of the attainment of true freedom. This freedom was obtained by the transformation of the harsh realities of labor into something nourishing to the individuals soul through love or passion.

I do not mean to try and depict farm life as idyllic. Many of the people we talked to dispelled this myth, and it did not take long to see that they were right. This is a large part of the reason why I have waited till now to tie in what I have learned in political philosophy courses with my farm experience. Farm life consists of doing hard work for long hours with the knowledge that any variable such as weather, pesticide overdrift, or animal disease could destroy everything you’ve done. There is also always the fear of something even more permanently damaging, such as like the farm crisis of the 1980s, occurring and leaving you bankrupt. And even when everything goes perfectly, there is no guarantee that you will make a profit.

Despite the messiness and complexity of agriculture we still found numerous people who did it because it was their passion. Many such as Denny and Scott Neubauer and Denny and Brent Friest have been doing it all, or most of, their life and see it as a family enterprise. And others, such as Kevin Butt, consider it their ultimate passion and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But what I found most moving were the couples who had changed the entire direction of their lives and abandoned their plans or careers (such as Jill and Sean who left their jobs as theatre managers in Houston) in order to start farming from scratch. To most people this might sound insane, especially since the vast majority of them opt to do organic/alternative farming where there isn’t even a safety net of crop insurance and government subsidies. But I believe that they are all motivated by something similar, something which may be explained in part through an understanding of the relationship between manual labor and soulcraft.

I experienced this for myself when working in the various organic farms we visited and seeing people who invested so much time and money into something where there was little chance of significant material rewards. I was particularly inspired by people like Mark and his wife and Dalona’s family who kept small gardens, bees, and a few chickens just to be self-sustaining, as well as for the love of it. Hearing the pride and joy in Mark’s voice as he told us about his bees and all that he gladly invests in his hobby, solidified my belief in the ability of labor to be made into something nourishing to the soul. Mark and Dalona also gave me the hope that even if I would never go into horticulture as a business, I could aspire to something more small scale. Of the numerous things I learned throughout this trip, perhaps the one that will serve me most in the future is the reward of trying something new and not being discouraged when doing so is difficult. I know now that despite my minimal experience and skills I am capable of starting a daunting project, such as a planting a garden and keeping a hive. And that despite the difficulties and hours of labor this will bring, in the end it will be worth it even if the only rewards can be found in my soul.

Today we got to meet with some people from the Leopold Center and Iowa State, including the notable Fred Kirschenmann and Matt Liebman. I was surprised to learn that the Leopold Center was first established as a part of the 1987 Groundwater Act, with the purpose of promoting research and providing tools to farmers to reduce pollution and explore alternative models of agriculture. Kirschenmann made the point that the farm crisis in the 80s was able to bring opportunities for change. He then compared this to the current crisis, which most everyone we have met has mentioned, that the vast majority of farmers will be retiring in the next 20 years. It is the Leopold Center’s hope that, although some sort of crisis is likely, that in the end young farmers will step up and lead to a resettling of America.

In preparation for meeting Kirschenmann we watched the 1995 documentary In My Father’s Garden.  Part of the film’s storyline featured Kirschenmann’s journey from an academic career as a professor of religion and philosophy to returning to his family’s farm in North Dakota to become a cutting-edge organic farmer.  In 1995, Kirschenmann’s ag practice was a ray of hope on the uncertain horizon of the future of farming. While during the film he mainly played the role of the farmer his philosophy and religion background still showed through. In the film, and in our discussion today, he made the argument that the Garden of Eden is not about a perfect world but rather our relationship to the earth. In Genesis, God calls Adam and Eve (translated to “soil” and “life”) to act in a symbiotic relationship with the garden. Kirschenmann mentioned the Bible verse in Genesis that calls us to till and care for the garden, which could also be translated to “serve and preserve”, and that in turn the garden will sustain us. Kirschenmann also made the comparison that eating from the tree of knowledge could refer to not thinking that you, as a human, know more than the garden. This tree of knowledge could today be seen as bio-technologies and various other scientific approaches to agriculture.

This more philosophical viewpoint really resonated with me after weeks of technical information and facts, which while great, do not speak to me as profoundly as Kirschenmann’s more “liberal arts” approach to agriculture. His point about what the true relationship between the earth and the humans who inhabit it should be really summed many of my feelings about what is wrong with our current agricultural system. I think that we should do more to evaluate how we can have a more balanced relationship that focuses on sustaining the earth and not carelessly exploiting it’s resources.

We had a very diverse set of activities on our agenda to close out our final day. We began working with hogs at the Friest farm, moved on to discuss pesticide drift at Practical Farmers of Iowa, and ended by delivering 130 baby chicks to Dalona’s homestead. I really liked that our last day as it accurately reflected the wide variety of viewpoints we have heard over the past three weeks. Many of our days have been exactly like this one starting with conventional agriculture and ending at the more sustainable end of things.

The Friest farm was interesting because Brent really enjoyed telling us how everything worked on the farm, in much detail. It was nice of the Friests to let us into their hog barn which is something not many outsiders have the opportunity to do, and they even allowed us to take photos. I was not very fond of the hog barn as it was a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO), as well as just smelling kind of gross. The highlight of the tour of the hog barns was that I got to hold a baby pig, something I have been wanting to do for awhile.

At one point Denny came over and told us how he had been reading our blog and had comments for us on some of the things we had said. Denny and Brent then expressed their opinions on animal rights and how they thought animal rights issues often got more coverage than child abuse. I disagree with this very strongly although I could see how they, as CAFO hog farmers, would be hyper-sensitive to the many animal rights messages. While I know they did not mean to come off this way I was a little offended by their comparison of animal abuse to child abuse. Probably my least favorite criticism people make about animal welfare is the generalization that people and groups who care about animal rights are placing a preference on animal welfare over human welfare issues, such as child abuse. The Friests were not the first people on this trip to make a comment to me about people worrying about animal abuse and to imply that these same people don’t worry as much about child abuse.

This treatment of animal and human rights issues as if they were incompatible areas of concern that a person must choose either one or the other to care about personally outrages me. This is especially true since I am about to devote my entire summer to volunteering at a domestic violence nonprofit that offers various services to victims such as providing safe shelter for women and children who have experienced abuse. And perhaps shocking to some of the people I have encountered on this trip, I don’t plan to one day work for PETA but instead potentially go into social work. I find it very natural that my stance on animal rights and welfare would carry into my attitude towards human rights issues. This may be why, in addition to being a member of the Furman Animal Rights group, I have ended up as President of an organization on campus that highlights various social justice issues (no animal rights issues) such as human trafficking. I am fairly certain that the Friests did not mean to suggest this about me personally (and that they meant to make a point about certain organizations and resource allocation), but I think this is an unfair generalization that critics should address with more caution and sensitivity.

After this excitement we continued our day with Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI). This visit was highly anticipated as many of the organic farmers we had met had mentioned PFI and the role it played on their farms. PFI exists to do research for and educate unconventional farmers on the issues in which they are interested. Since sustainable and organic horticulture operations do not receive the benefits that conventional monocrop producers do (e.g.,.government subsidies and opportunities to purchase crop insurance), it is great that they at least have one organization in their corner. The main topic we discussed with them was pesticide overdrift, a serious topic among a good number of the unconventional producers we had met who had been significantly affected by this issue.

Our long trek to Iowa City to meet with Mary Mascher, Jim, and others was well worth it. I thought that after three weeks of intensively learning about all sides of food production (for what felt like all hours of the day and many evenings), that we had finally heard it all. But the people Mary Mascher had invited over to engage in a discussion with us about Iowa provided a wide range of perspectives, this included [aspiring] scientists, farmers, activists, politicians, as well as us students. Not surprisingly, putting all these people in the same room to intentionally discuss such controversial issues got really interesting really quickly.

The idea of the drastically altered landscape of Iowa contributing to climate change was another big conversation starter. Jim probably offered the most radical perspective referring to modern day Iowa as one giant field of corn and soybeans, interspersed with “postage stamp relics of streams and prairies.” While Lance, the graduate student, chimed in to add that only somewhere between 1-5% of Iowa’s native prairie lands were left, while 60% of the landscape was corn and soy. Conversation also talked about climate change outside of Iowa and the phenomenon of cities creating “urban heat islands” and micro-climates that can be up to 10 degrees warmer than surrounding areas.

I was really surprised when the conversation went so far as to turn to population control as while this seems to be the looming question no one really seems to want to bring it up, and I would expect this least of all among politicians. This provided the counter-view to what we have heard from most conventional farmers and agricultural associations that they want to “feed the world.” Jim was very willing to ask these tough questions and open the conversation to whether we could afford to feed the world without using chemicals that may be destroying the land and risking human health. Someone also brought up the interesting point of how Borlaug, the Iowan who won the Nobel Prize for Peace and started the World Food Prize (mentioned in earlier blogs), who is publicly credited with saving “more human lives than anyone else in history”, was also known for emphasizing how all his work is pointless without population control. The fact that we went to the World Food Prize and spent a significant amount of time learning about Borlaug and never heard about his feelings on population control just goes to show how unpopular a topic it is.

I am familiar with the population control debate from my Ethics of Globalization class where the ethics of the present distribution of resources was often a topic of concern. Lance presented the argument I had learned in this course that population isn’t that much an issue in terms of numbers of people (as it is stabilizing), but rather in terms of consumption per capita. This basically refers to the phenomenon that nations such as China and India are rapidly consuming more meat and animal products and catching up with America. Based off what I learned in Ethics of Globalization it is highly unlikely (if not impossible) for the resources on the earth to be able to support the entire world living the way Americans do. According to this perspective the discussion must then not be about population control but about population usage.

After much more discussion about pollution, chemicals, water quality and other environmental concerns we eventually ended on a more uplifting note. The idea that while government may not have all the answers (this was especially significant coming from politicians) we can each personally do something to promote change. Wendell Berry, (I am a fan!) was mentioned and his poem “think little”, as in don’t try and change the world but instead work on changing yourself and influencing your community. Jim gave the example of how he tries to live out this philosophy by going around and planting trees. But there are many other ways to make changes such as by consuming less or being selective about what you consume. This group was actually fairly supportive of veganism and saw increasing meat consumption as one of the contributors to our environmental crises and veganism as a legitimate way to respond and act individually. Overall it was very interesting to hear such a wide range of voices, who contrasted with many of those we had already heard from over the past few weeks. It seemed like a rare opportunity to be able to meet with such a wide range of people with the exclusive purpose of having an honest discussion about such controversial issues.

I have never taken much time to think about how crucial something as seemingly simple as a seed could be. Unless it was in a science class, I’ve only ever really thought of seeds as merely a concept. While I’ve often used the idiom “planting a seed” with a full understanding of its abstract meaning, I never really thought about the meaning of physical seeds until now. I was really excited to get to go to Decorah and see the varied topography which was going to be a break from the flat monotony (which being new to the midwest I still appreciated) and getting to see what Dr. HN referred to as “Little Switzerland.” Neither the Seed Savers Exchange nor the Decorah topography were a disappointment, and I left with a greater appreciation for both.

It was really eye opening to see how the people at Seed Savers valued preserving old seeds. This added a new dimension to our discussions about the controversy surrounding  genetically modified seeds that lead to the creation of the optimal plant. It seems very likely that in this process we would lose track of countless species of plants without even thinking about it or caring. This loss of biodiversity seems extremely tragic. The founders of seed savers may not have had genetically modified seeds in mind, but they still valued biodiversity enough to make preserving thousands of seeds their life work. Hearing about all the ways people acquired old seeds that may have been the last of their kind was fascinating. I have never thought about seeds as being an heirloom to be passed down through the generations. But apparently this isn’t entirely uncommon as that is how the bulk of seeds that the Seed Savers Exchange have acquired came into its possession. Seeing how seriously they took preserving these thousands of types of seeds and plant varieties made me consider the importance of biodiversity. And less profoundly just appreciate the beauty of different, exotic plant species that have just barely escaped extinction. The highlight of our visit to Decorah was getting to go on a mini-hike to an orchard that housed about 450 apple varieties of the nearly 1000 that the Seed Savers possess. This experience gave me a greater appreciation for the value of a seed and the preservation of plant diversity.

Seed Savers Garden

Just one of hundreds of unique species of apple trees

When I first heard we were going to the Cory Farm I was excited but did not think it was going to be THAT different from the other small unconventional farms we had already visited. Wow, how wrong I was. The first thing that I noticed was different was how prepared they were for our visit. Tom Cory was clearly not the type of person to merely stand idly by and chat. As soon as we got there we had a variety of farm chores to contribute to while Tom told us all about his family’s unique perspective on food. I had barely finished the (much needed) cup of coffee he had generously offered before part of our group was out milking goats, harvesting a patch of asparagus, tending the chickens, working in the pasture with the sheep and cattle, and finally working in the garden.

The Cory Farm business’s focus was clearly on producing high quality all-natural animal products. This aligned with their dietary beliefs that lauded the health benefits of pasture raised meat, raw milk, fermented foods, and animal fats such as butter. Since their business model and deeply held convictions on health were predominantly centered around animal products I was surprised by how accepting the Cory’s immediately were about my vegan diet. Neither Tom nor Mary seemed to even question my dietary choices, although I know for certain that they disagree with them strongly. This was in stark contrast to some of my other experiences with people involved in animal agriculture who while emphasizing their tolerance of other people’s choices still found a way to work in how their way was the right way and why I was deluded. They even went as far as to leave the butter off some of the side items of our lunch even though it is apparent how much they value the health benefits of putting butter on most everything. While this came as a pleasant surprise, I suspect that certain more radical aspects of their diet and lifestyle choices (such as the fermented foods and homeopathic remedies) have probably accustomed them to criticism and given them a sensitivity to these issues.

Tom Cory spoke a lot about freedom and liberties, specifically applying them to the context of food production methods. While he obviously held firm convictions that are opposed to conventional agriculture methods he still asserted that there was room for all passions, interests, personal choices. He made this point by comparing the food industry to a table where he just wants a place.  While many places we had visited such as Iowa Pork, Iowa corn growers, Summit Farms, and others had claimed that the ideal system is one where organic and all natural practices exist alongside current conventional practices I kind of got the feeling that they were just saying that without really meaning it. But it seemed to me that the Corys truly believed in this respect for individual freedoms and choice and they acted consistently in living out this belief. The highlight of my time with the Corys were hanging out with their youngest daughter and learning about homeopathic remedies. I was fascinated by Mary’s home-made medicines and have wanted to one day do something similar. She had a comprehensive book on the subject called where she said she had gotten many of her recipes and advice and I was really interested in purchasing the book, but when I mentioned it to her she gave me a copy she had gotten for free. I’ve already read through a lot of it and have learned a lot and been inspired to pursue homeopathic remedies whenever possible.

Mary explaining her homeopathic remedies! (also, note how she looks like she drinks from the fountain of youth)

Me and my new friend!

Our visit to the ethanol plant also got me thinking more about the vast amount of cornfields that seem to make up the vast majority of Iowa agriculture. We discussed with Jesse the issues surrounding the fact that 1/2 of all corn grown becomes ethanol. I have mentioned in previous blogs my skepticism of the mono-crop system but only focusing on the part of corn that goes to animal feed and corn syrup rather than ethanol. I did now know that much about ethanol before today but had head previously doubts about its sustainability and efficiency, particularly in its water use. Our guide Jesse did a lot to help clear this up for me by explaining how the water was reused, as well as pointing out the oil companies interest in promoting critiques of ethanol production as it takes away 10% of their market. Jesse was very honest in saying that he did not personally believe that corn is the most efficient plant to use for biofuel but that Iowa was just using what they were already good at growing rather than changing their entire way of doing things. I still do not approve of the mono-crop system but my time at the ethanol plant made me consider how producing so much of one thing could potentially help alleviate our energy crisis and reduce our reliance on oil.

I was really excited to go check out Blue Gate farms because even though we had been to two other small organic farms this was the only one who made the trek to Des Moines every Saturday morning to participate in the Farmers Market. It was really great to have Jill and Sean tell us how they had gone from being in the theatre to farming. Their story  was inspiring and reaffirmed the message that if you find something you are passionate about you should not be discouraged by not having any previous experience. Jill and Sean, with a lot of willpower and sweat, were able to go from knowing nothing about farming to owning a few really impressive acres of produce, herbs, alpacas, chickens, and bees. But they also acknowledged how in reality their dream could not have been realized if they didn’t have family who already owned the land they farm.

One of the most important guiding values that Sean and Jill held were the importance of being forward thinking, and always having a 10 or 20-year plan rather than a one or five year one. They also told a story that showed how this value was reflected within their own family. In the last years of his life Jill’s grandfather took the time to plant an entire fruit orchard that he knew he would never see, knowing that these trees would benefit future generations. These values also go hand in hand with their environmental ethic and how they believe that the way they farm is the best way to be a steward to the land, and ensure it is around for generations to come. I really appreciated their perspective on this and agreed with them that many conventional agriculture practices are poisoning and degrading the land.

While it was obvious that they were extremely passionate I did not understand how they managed to accomplish everything they had done on that farm, at least not without never sleeping. Jill also told us about some of the crazy hurdles they had to overcome over the ten years they had been farming. These included floods, fires, tornadoes, and a chemical spray incident that killed or infected a lot of their produce. The worst part of all this was that being a vegetable farm they receive no crop insurance or government subsidy and rely solely on their own methods of minimizing their risk. This was a good reality check that showed the non-idyllic side of life on a small organic farm. But Jill and Sean seemed to be in high spirits and were anticipating that in their tenth year they might for the first time make a profit and be able to at least partially replenish their depleted savings account.

Being a huge fan of the idea of farmers markets and purchasing local, fresh, and organic produce I was excited to finally have the chance to talk to farmers who chose to go to farmers markets. The other two organic farms we visited chose not to participate in Farmers Markets because the costs outweighed the benefits.  Jill and Sean had a very different outlook and considered their farmers market customers to be some of their most loyal supporters and the backbone of their community, which serve as the greatest motivation for what they are doing. I really liked how they invoked the importance of building community when describing what motivated them to invest so much in farmers markets. I think that community is one of the most important values we can have as humans, and I hope to one day find a community as fulfilling as the one Jill and Sean have found.

One of the greatest aspects of my Farm experience has been the variety of opinions and perspectives that I have been exposed to. But this accumulation of diverse information about our food production system has also caused me a lot of confusion. Sometimes it can be difficult to decide what is right when you are surrounded by conflicting voices, which are each equally certain of the truth of their own opinion. The confusion that this has caused me in the past was actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to come on the farm trip to Iowa in the first place. While in a way coming here has added to the pile of conflicting information floating through my brain, it has also helped me to begin to put the pieces together to be able to step back and see the bigger picture.

One such issue that we have been learning about is obesity in America and its implications for our food system. Opinions on this topic disagree on the causes as well as potential solutions for alleviating the high prevalence of obesity. Some like to argue that obesity, particularly among children and minorities, is the fault of fast-food establishments and other corporations with their influential advertisements and large amount of lobbying money. This is a favored approach of many food documentaries such as the one our class saw a few days ago, Fed Up. This perspective often also attacks conventional agriculture with its corn and soybean subsidies that provides the food industry with its resources for an excess of cheap, processed, and fast foods. Many who agree with this view are more likely to support regulations, mandates, or taxes on the food industry. However, critics turn their attention away from the food-industry and focus in more on individual choice. These same critics would probably be reluctant to impose any legislative restrictions on food, opting instead for public education programs. One of the strongest arguments against any sort of aggressive policy to combat obesity is the right to make personal choices as well as the reluctance to stigmatize an entire group of people due to their body type, which may be something they have little control over.

Perhaps the greatest subject on which perspectives clash is where the balance should be between conserving the environment and harvesting its resources to “feed the world.” Today we watched two different documentaries that addressed this controversial issue, Ocean Frontiers: The Dawn of a New Era in Ocean Stewardship and Symphony of the Soil.   Ocean Frontiers approached the issue by focusing on how we are in the middle of serious environmental crises such as the depletion of fish, pollution of oceans, and the creation of ocean dead zones. But the solution that the documentary proposes is one that calls for the modification of current methods of production through promoting dialogue among businesses and environmental conservation groups. This contrasts with the message of Symphony of the Soil, which called for an urgent revolution in agricultural practices that would reverse the work of the Green Revolution. This would include a return to an organic mode of agriculture without the use of pesticides or other chemicals as well as conservation practices such as cover-crops and no-till farming.

While I have been confronted over the past 12 days with a variety of opinions that seem to all conflict at some level, the amount of information I have learned has allowed to me form my own opinions. While I have always been fond of forming my own opinions on things, especially on food policy, I haven’t always done so based on a balanced knowledge of facts. This balance is probably one of the greatest things the farm experience has given me so far. It is a good feeling to be able to watch a food documentary such as Fed-Up, and while I still agree with many of the things the film claims I can also discern some of the opposing issues that the film may not have addressed or glossed over. While I still find myself holding strong opinions that are generally opposed to conventional agriculture and lean far towards organic and conservation-oriented practices, at least I can rest assured knowing I have listened to the other side.

I’ve always been really afraid of bees, and of any animal capable of stinging me for that matter. But two years ago I somehow became really interested in the idea of one day becoming a beekeeper. If I remember correctly this interest began as part of an attempt for me to overcome my fears that led to me forcing myself to allow bees to land on me while I fought my instinct to flee. Surprisingly over time this tactic worked while my beekeeping aspirations were stalled due to timing and circumstances. That being said, today when I heard we were going to visit a local beekeeper excited did not even begin to describe my emotions.

From the moment I met Mark his enthusiasm and passion for his hobby was contagious. He started beekeeping 15 years ago with no prior knowledge about it. Apparently he just started by reading a book called “Beekeeping for Beginners” and now fifteen years later he’s an expert on everything bee-related. This was really encouraging to me because I sometimes feel like it would be hard for me to start something such as beekeeping or gardening because I do not have any immediate resources to draw on to help me get started, but I could easily just find books and soak up the knowledge from them. I loved seeing the bees and hearing Mark explain how bees behave and the complex social dynamics of the hive. I tried to be super brave by being one of the only people to not wear any protective gear while Mark opened the hives and being the first person to try the bee larvae, my bravery paid off and somehow we all escaped without any stings!

Getting up close and personal with the hive

It was also interesting to listen to Mark and his wife express their strong feels towards conventional agriculture and the spraying of pesticides on crops. I was alarmed to hear how some of the spray from the neighbor’s crops had drifted over onto their organic garden and killed off their plants To me it seems fairly obvious that if the chemicals being sprayed on corn and soybeans killed Mark’s family’s plants those same chemicals should not be being consumed by humans. While we have been hearing this same sort of anti-chemicals talk from the organic farmers we have met within the past few days it almost meant even more to hear it from your average Iowan (although, Mark with his extraordinary talent and numerous skills is anything but average). I found it fascinating that Mark works full-time at the Barilla Pasta factory yet still has managed to take so much time to devote to his beekeeping, and has even won the Iowa State Fair Grand Prize Beekeeping blue-ribbon twice. This made him a very different voice for alternative agriculture practices than the people we have met with at Table Top and the Wallace Centers.

Later we visited with an advocate of conservation practices within conventional farming, Dr. HN’s friend Glen Hodnefield, who talked to us about something we had heard a lot about but not in much detail: no-till farming practices. He was equally passionate about his work in tending his land in a way to make it the least susceptible to soil erosion and water run-off. I found it interesting that he considered one of his greatest assets to be the earthworms that lived in his soil. My favorite part of our time with Glen was seeing the buffer area he had let grow around the small creek right next to one of his corn fields. After hearing a lot about the terrible water quality of most of Iowa’s rivers due to soil run-off it was great to see a crystal clear body of water, right in the middle of a field nonetheless! This showed me that there is definitely merit to following basic conservation practices.

The lovely Crick

One theme that I have seen mentioned by people I have met in Iowa concerning their pursuit of their passions is how they made many mistakes, which turned out to be their best learning experiences. The message that mistakes are one of the greatest ways to learn something and improve was important for me to hear repeated by the many people we met with (Mosa, Luke, Sally, Mark, and Glen just to name a few) as I’m often afraid of getting involved in new things because I’m scared that I won’t be good at them. I have long considered this aversion to things I do not show an immediate talent for to be one of my greatest character flaws. But the people I have met here have really helped to encourage me to be less afraid of making mistakes and have given me the courage to start something new and out of my comfort zone.

Glen showing us his no-till field. (Note the progress of the corn only two weeks after planting)

Today served as kind of the ultimate experience of alternative agriculture. The day began with a trip to Tabletop Farms another organic (at least in practice) CSA farm. What was most notable about Tabletop was how it differed from yesterday’s farm. The Henry Wallace Farm is a part of the Henry Wallace Centers which is privileged to have a board of directors and donors so it operates as a non-profit organization. Meanwhile, the young couple, Luke and Sally Gran, who started and manage Tabletop had no such resources. It was really interesting to hear about the business side of the farm and by the time they finished explaining everything they had to do on their own I was in awe that they were still at it and seemed to be doing pretty well.

Luke and Sally’s story showed me how learning a diverse set of practical skills, from accounting to basic mechanics, can pay off in the long-term. And how when you lack certain skills you may need to depend on your social capital. Social capital was a word that Luke and Sally (I’m assuming this stems from Sally’s background as a sociology major) used very often and considered it one of their greatest resources. To them social capital referred to the web of relationships they had worked to create within their community. This web included neighbors, customers, old friends, and anyone else they had formed relationships with, and these connections enabled Luke and Sally to accomplish things that they otherwise might not have been able to on their own. This emphasis on community, which I have seen elsewhere in Iowa’s farm culture, contrasts with the individualistic attitude that many Americans have. While it seemed like Luke and Sally still have a lot of work to do before they have their feet planted firmly on the soil they seemed very hopeful for the future. It seemed that a willingness to continually learn new ways of doing things and new skills combined with the recognition of the benefits of reciprocal relationships were what had helped Luke and Sally to overcome various obstacles.