The Value in Knowing Your Farmer

First, a confession:

For years, I’ve harbored this weirdo pride because I have known the answer to the question on those green bumper stickers, the ones that ask, “Who’s Your Farmer?”

I know the answer. I still have to fork over a buck-fifty to get a cup of coffee, but I know the answer. What I have lately discovered is the real value in knowing the answer, the value in knowing who my farmers are.

I went with my partner, Tamara, to a recent meeting of Co-op Board, management and staff and the farmers who provide some of the produce the Co-op sells. We’re planning on being farmers in the near future, so it made sense to get involved.

What struck me first was the welcome we got. The farmers who supply the Co-op absolutely love their work. They love the challenges of unpredictable nature, and they love the satisfaction of providing this region with good food. They so love the work that they are thrilled to see more people join this field (so to speak), for we too, will surely love the work.

Some of the producers I knew already, some I met at that meeting—but all are extraordinary in their own rights. I have read—and seen with my own eyes—that the definition of farmer put forth by the American Heritage Dictionary includes the following: “a simple, unsophisticated person; a bumpkin.”

Aside from being asinine, misguided and otherwise stupid, this definition surely suggests the folks who write dictionary definitions have never met a farmer.

The growers in southwest Montana, I have long known, are among the smartest, savviest, and most astute people I have ever met. They would never say anything like this, being a humble and deprecating lot—which only affirms my respect.

These are individuals who are earnestly dedicated to providing us—the entire community—clean, healthy, safe food. They worry profoundly about keeping us safe; there was an extended conversation about containers and which containers were best for avoiding contaminants getting to their produce.

These are individuals who are earnestly dedicated to ensuring the future of farming in this area. They are savvy to farm legislation and to any effort to legislate irrational changes to small-scale farming as a way to score political points. If the future of agriculture rests in the hands of Co-op growers, we’ll have a brilliant future indeed.

These are individuals who are earnestly dedicated to sustaining every aspect of food production. There are astounding innovations happening right now on farms all around us. From organic certification to predator-friendly herd management; from alternative energy improvements to crop rotation and soil management; from wiser water use to creative pest management. Farmers are constantly trying new things to ensure good food for us, a future for farming in the area, and for an honorable relationship to the land.

So, I urge you to take the time to meet your farmers. You can learn all you want about how they grow the food you eat; you can learn about their environmental and safety concerns; you might ask to see their farms or to join a CSA; you can even learn about their other interests beyond the farm (you’ll be amazed—they’re just like you and me!).

And, then, maybe we can talk about a new bumper sticker, one I haven’t seen yet: “I Know My Farmers.”