Posted on 11/26/2017 6:08:34 AM PST by Cecily
Liz Whitehurst dabbled in several careers before she ended up here, crating fistfuls of fresh-cut arugula in the early-November chill.
The hours were better at her nonprofit jobs. So were the benefits. But two years ago, the 32-year-old Whitehurst — who graduated from a liberal arts college and grew up in the Chicago suburbs — abandoned Washington for this three-acre farm in Upper Marlboro, Md.
She joined a growing movement of highly educated, ex-urban, first-time farmers who are capitalizing on booming consumer demand for local and sustainable foods and who, experts say, could have a broad impact on the food system.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“You cannot support yourself let alone a family on three acres.”
Look up micro-farming. It’s hard work, takes a ton of planning, but it can be done.
L
It’s not like that. It’s new hi-tech subsistence farming. They aren’t Luddites. Their doing a good job advancing Aquaponics. Hydroponics + fish life.
>>You cannot support yourself let alone a family on three acres.
That’s why I said that growing and selling food is a great education in economics.
She graduated from a liberal arts college and is highly educated?
As ‘nice’ as it sounds, these former ‘social justice’ idiots are far too few. They only grow a small amount of niche food bought by relatively well-heeled and wealthy people in specialty stores.
What is needed are people to go into farming major crops on major acreage and more people into large scale commercial fishing.
Food does not grow in fancy boxes or pretty cans at the grocery store ...
These people are just more trust-funder babies assuaging their misplaced feeling and lack of a real education. They will not last long before retuning to the cities they came from, filled with self-pride (or is that hubris) at their magnificent ‘achievements’ for the people.
Shoot, add on a GoFundMe for collecting funds to help people cover their travel expenses too.
Betcha you'd be swamped with money and can add updates on how you've started planting toilet paper roll bushes, milk trees, etc.
Imbo, like the Army, a year on a working ranch/farm does a body good.
5.56mm
I’ve actually debated with FReepers who think you’ve got to buy soil to farm, so I don’t hold out much hope for social justice types formerly employed by non-profits. They’re going to carry their non-profit experience into the real world, where non-profit rapidly turns into a hole you pour your own money into, not someone else’s money.
Imho.
LOL
5.56mm
Produce/farmers markets accept food stamps now.. lots of opportunity for connected liberals.
So this moron LIB spent (her parents spent...) hundreds of thousands for a worthless degree? She find herself caught working in loser nonprofits for little cash. She somehow buys three acres and now is a farm worker producing arugula for the rich people going to restaurants in the WDC area. What a success.
Plenty of bartering going on back then.
These kids are pretend farmers. They aren't making a living.
These guys barter for everything, weed, beer/wine, meat, dairy with other farmers. Keep ‘em occupied until heaven forfend the next RAT president.
Sorry...she didn’t buy the land. She rents. I guess she is a sharecropper. Good for her. Good luck.
I agree. I have an excellent farmer’s market in my town and they are almost all youngish people selling their food. I see nothing wrong with this and many things right about it. But leave it to some cynical freepers here who always see a glass half empty. Meanwhile, I’ll eat my locally sourced veggies and buy their beautiful flowers (in season, of course!)
She didn’t purchase her inputs, they lease it from 70yos.
Growing landscaping plants is where the real $ is, but can’t take EBT for them. I hope farm-to-table is here to stay, the kids they raise will be hippies but based hippies, at least.
We need “replacement” farmers as the age of most currently in the occupation exceeds their capacity to continue their life long works. Take it from a many moons ago “farm kid”.
They’ll be taking out loans for expensive farm equipment, have bad weather and the banks will own their farms. Being taught in liberal intuitions they will cry how unfair capitalism is.
According to Liz’s website, they rent the 4 acres. Read the application etc. I posted her Owl’s website.
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