Let your children grow up to be farmers

Let them know what it is like to be free from fluorescent lights and laser pointer meetings. Let them challenge themselves to be forever resourceful and endlessly clever. Let them whistle and sing loud as they like without getting called into an office for disturbing the workforce.  Let them commute down a winding path with birdsong instead of a freeways constant growl. Let them be bold. Let them be romantic. Let them grow up not having to ask another adult for permission to go to the dentist at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. Let them get dirty. Let them cry at the beauty of fallow earth they just signed the deed for. Let them bring animals into this world. Let them wake up during a snowstorm and fight drifts at the barn door instead of traffic. Let them learn what real work is. Let them find happiness in the understanding that success and wealth are not the same thing.  

 Farming never has been, and never will be an easy life but for many it is an easy choice. Being a farmer means making a decision and owning it, really owning it the way few people get to own anything in their lives anymore. Let your children grow up to know this responsibility. Let them literally put food on the table. There is a surplus of mediocrity in this nation and a deficit of bravery. 

Let your children grow up to be farmers. Let them be brave. 

--Jenna Woginrich