I have a poet’s sensibility around agriculture. That’s not to say that the hard numbers don’t make a difference to me, they certainly do.  What gets me out of bed is that I get to work outside in a nearly magical landscape with machines and scientific principles that I understand and yet do not fully comprehend to do meaningful work in the world. You could try to capture this fully on a spreadsheet, but you would fail to grasp what is really happening.

The mission of my farm is to inspire human flourishing through agriculture. This mission is decidedly social, even theological in scope. I believe in agriculture and the cultures that support it. So much so that I think it’s one of the best ways to live even despite the frequent hardship and uncertainty that surrounds it.

I think agriculture and the communities that support them need to keep this aspect in mind when considering policy, or even how to talk to one another about the work. It’s more than a job – it’s an investment in intangibles that in their total make up the tangible product that is food – cultural, social, communal and vital for our very existence.

Eating local is good, but alone it is insufficient to address human flourishing. Taking care of one another as stewards and shepherds of the land, and of each other is crucial to this understanding. How we go about that is another matter altogether, and will take all of us reflecting, writing, thinking and being human with each other.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and for your support of my partner stores and bakeries.

Ben