12 Comments

Oh, by "both" I meant you and your partner. All best!

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Hahah it seems I really can't read, thank you again :)

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All ze best!

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Do you follow Alexandra Fasulo? Her Substack is partly about running a small NY farm as a butterfly sanctuary. As well as working with the USDA and others to learn about environmental farming and grants she can apply for. https://open.substack.com/pub/houseofgreen?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=yfwb

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Hi Catherine,

I'm definitely aware of Alexandra (my dad emailed me one of her videos this week, small world).

I do appreciate some of the work she's doing making UDSA resources more available to people looking for them, prioritising nature and advocating for local economys.

However I think she tends to sugarcoat the difficulty of farming, in fact I haven't seen her farm yet, just grow a tray of microgreens. She does also have animals, but her main produce on the farm seems to be social media posts.

I believe that her heart is in the right place but encouraging people with no experience to take up farming is how you perpetuate burnout, exploitation and why small farms have the closure rates of restaurants.

This is not to say that people shouldn't try farming or persuade starting a farm, but diving right in with no experience is a costly endeavour.

I also acknowledge that she is only at the beginning of her farming journey and I wish her well. I'm excited to see what she gets done and I appreciate her making the topic more accessible.

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Oh yah, I tend to think of AF as aiming to run a butterfly sanctuary that is funded by her work as an online content writer/marketer (I'm referring to her work on Fiverr and maybe as a paid Substacker, not necessarily as an influencer, although I am sure the latter is a stream too). I have some mixed feelings about the difficulty of it -- agreed that farming itself is very tough and involves lots of early wakeups, getting up in the night for reproducing livestock, things like that. My grandfather had a farm and I was around there growing up; they were very fortunate to have a second income contributing. Because I have seen a few others build creative workshops on their farms and such and continue to build it with outside income, I think of AF as trying to spread the word that some purchases of small pieces of land can be funded with agricultural loans and can be used as a minor side income (which, yes, *requires other income in most cases) while conserving the land. That said, maybe AF should explain her expenses as well as income a bit more of the time. I think she does some of that in her paid Substack. Take care!

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Totally agree that thats probably a good way of thinking about what AF is doing. Farming is pretty underpaid so I don't fault her for surviving off other income streams, nor do I fault the people who take second jobs or run workshops etc. It's also great to hear about the opportunities the USDA offers and to see her try them. I would be interested in seeing more of her finances, for sure.

When it comes to difficulty, I also have mixed feelings, I would say that the long days and late nights, the unpredictability of the weather, these things are also what makes farming such an amazing profession. You can't choose when livestock give birth, or when a thunderstorm comes, but you do your best in the moment and it's so rewarding. This makes it hard work but necessarily difficult. At least to me, the main difficulty comes from the prioritisation of subsidised industrial ag, quantity over quality and the Earl Butz refrain of "Get Big or Get Out" that permeates today. But people are so creative, and there is support if you know where to look.

Take care too. Thank you for engaging with my rambling.

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True. Does that refrain permeate as much now as in the 80s? I wonder. I realize that being part of something big is still the easier financial road and that there are still US govt subsidies for four crops -- corn, wheat, and the other two -- but yah, it seems like there is some more support now, both in community and with the govts, for taking a more indie route? Or in any case, that's the impression I've had. Too bad this farm mag closed in 2018, but there's also Civil Eats. And programs at various universities and govt depts that seem to be trying to help. Anyhow, good that you are okay with the irregular hours. Good luck! Modern Farmer (magazine) - Wikipedia https://search.app/annHFTCyCSyMDyTf6

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Good luck either way! I'm rooting for you both.

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Ah thanks! We all need all the help we could get 😊

When it comes to improving the food system there is no Us Vs Them, just people trying their best

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I didn't mean I was rooting for ya against someone else, btw. Best of luck. : )

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I didn't think that at all :)

I was just a follow on from my other comment, I don't want it to seem like I was not rooting for her either. Sorry for the confusion

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