by Cody
I didn't grow up on a farm. Or even in farm country. I grew up in a ski town with schizophrenic feelings about its ranching roots, and I did ballet.
I didn't grow up on a farm. Or even in farm country. I grew up in a ski town with schizophrenic feelings about its ranching roots, and I did ballet.
I remember my mom growing a few cold season crops when I was young. Kale. Maybe some cilantro. Rhubarb. But gave them up after not too long when she decided rafting and skiing were more fun. I stuck with ballet.
As I approached graduation I came to realize that my chances at becoming a professional ballerina were slim to none, especially at 5'2". I decided then to forgo a life as an anorexic waitress (a.k.a. semi-professional dancer) and pursue my other dreams - becoming a National Geographic photographer and an international development superstar. (Nothing but realistic, healthy, achievable goals for me!)
I went to college, studied International Development and moved to Nicaragua.
As I approached graduation I came to realize that my chances at becoming a professional ballerina were slim to none, especially at 5'2". I decided then to forgo a life as an anorexic waitress (a.k.a. semi-professional dancer) and pursue my other dreams - becoming a National Geographic photographer and an international development superstar. (Nothing but realistic, healthy, achievable goals for me!)
I went to college, studied International Development and moved to Nicaragua.
While living in Nicaragua off-and-on over a handful of years, I watched as development and 'Big Ag' started to move into rural communities and the subsistence farming lifestyle began to fade. Families who had worked the land for generations began moving away from the farm. People forgot that tomatoes could be grown without chemicals. Youth, who as children had referred to September as 'the time of the ayote (squash)', stopped helping their parents in the fields and began preparing themselves for office jobs in the city. Villages that had once been almost completely self sufficient became bedroom communities; parasitic pueblos dependent on the cities for survival. All the traditional signs of 'development' were drawing people away from the land and their heritage.
I also witnessed the damage that even the most well-intended, outsiders-with-influence can do when they think they know better than the communities they serve. And the rural communities left reeling in their wake. A water table that was critically lowered because of a failed running-water project when the community really wanted a school. City style subdivisions plopped into rural communities without regard to water, waste or electricity needs.
I met people working against this tide though, and learned that it is the communities who look within themselves for answers and support who best survive the impacts of fickle outside forces. Communities who are clear about their values and about the importance of preserving local resiliency. People who aren't afraid of hard work but are afraid of losing their identities. It was at this point that I became most interested in the role that vibrant local food systems can play in preserving community health and identities.
I met people working against this tide though, and learned that it is the communities who look within themselves for answers and support who best survive the impacts of fickle outside forces. Communities who are clear about their values and about the importance of preserving local resiliency. People who aren't afraid of hard work but are afraid of losing their identities. It was at this point that I became most interested in the role that vibrant local food systems can play in preserving community health and identities.
But... instead of picking up a hoe and cultivating a piece of land at that point, I moved to the Caribbean and became a professional snorkeler.
And eventually moved away from land all together, hopping aboard a sailboat and embarking on an unplanned circumnavigation.
Maybe it's because I get incredibly sea sick, or maybe it has something to do with the physiological effects of being surrounded by thousands of miles of water, but it was on our second ocean crossing that I began to dream about farming again. I would dream of digging in the dirt and map out crop rotations in my mind as I steered the boat through starless nights. I informed my partner that if we ever got our own sailboat (we were hitch hiking then), it needed to have two heads (bathrooms) so I could convert one into a greenhouse.
We didn't buy our own sailboat though and eventually returned to the US, broke and homeless in the middle of 'The Great Recession'. We had loved sailing and traveling but we came back to land because we longed for a home and community again. The long process of community and job hunting led us, completely unexpectedly, to Quincy and we both instantly knew that we had found home.
Not finding much work in international development or sailing in the rural Sierra Nevada mountains, I started building another career. It was at this point that I happened to meet Elizabeth and my wild dreams of farming began to take root.
I now find myself pouring over chicken catalogs, geeking out on soil microbes, and coveting tractors. I know that I'm not going to save the world or become and international super star, but I feel lucky that I get to spend my days digging in the dirt and growing healthy food for my community.
We didn't buy our own sailboat though and eventually returned to the US, broke and homeless in the middle of 'The Great Recession'. We had loved sailing and traveling but we came back to land because we longed for a home and community again. The long process of community and job hunting led us, completely unexpectedly, to Quincy and we both instantly knew that we had found home.
Not finding much work in international development or sailing in the rural Sierra Nevada mountains, I started building another career. It was at this point that I happened to meet Elizabeth and my wild dreams of farming began to take root.
I now find myself pouring over chicken catalogs, geeking out on soil microbes, and coveting tractors. I know that I'm not going to save the world or become and international super star, but I feel lucky that I get to spend my days digging in the dirt and growing healthy food for my community.
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