A fun fact about me, I'm part of the new agriculture movement. I live off the land, breed animals, grow my own plants to sustain me, and in general practice sustainable independence. Ever heard of it?
I've heard of the general sentiment. That sounds difficult. What goes into it?
To be honest it's quite a lot of work and the start is very expensive. You have to be very dedicated to the lifestyle. There's animal husbandry, crop selection and then periodic moving of those crops to ensure you don't exhaust the soil, and a lot of research to ensure that I'm using the plants in the right way. In my spare time I do keep bees. I sell what I don't use at farmers markets, so I'm always busy.
I assume that you love what you do, though. Plus, in working at the farmers market, you help others to establish food security, so you must feel good about your work.
Yes, I do love it! Being independent and able to sustain myself are such important values for me. It's interesting that you touch on food security, I hadn't considered how I helped others, just how I was helping myself. Could you tell me more about what food security is?
Sure thing. Food security is the idea that people have enough access to food and a consistent amount of food to depend on so their families don't starve.
That's actually very sad. The independent agriculture lifestyle sounds like it'd very much benefit them but getting to it is actually incredibly costly. If there were government subsidies for new farmers I think the sustainable independent agriculture movement would really change their lives.
I'm hesitant, though, to recommend subsidies, as there's currently an organic farming movement which, in the long run, will cost us precious land and resources while people who need food will starve so people who don't need more food will get fancier food.