“[T]he final verdict on the future of the American farm lies no longer with the farmer,…but rather with the American people themselves—and they have now passed judgment.
“They no longer care where or how they get their food, as long as it is firm, fresh, and cheap. They have no interest in preventing the urbanization of their farmland as long as parks, Little League fields, and an occasional bike lane are left amid the concrete, stucco, and asphalt….
“You see, we in America have been running away from the isolation, uncertainty, boredom, toil, and drudgery of the farm for a century and more now, and in our lifetime have finally escaped it entirely….We desire the security of the corporation and bureaucracy even as we hate what we become, and so we run from the farm only to dream that it might save us all yet.” (p. 270)
If that sounds pessimistic, it’s because the story it tells IS depressing—a story we have seen played out right here on the Enumclaw Plateau. Witness, for example, the Courier-Herald article of June 3, 2009, titled “Dairies Continue Disappearing Act.”
What does the future hold for a region that doesn’t sustain its farmers and farmland?
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1 comment:
Great post. I would like to encourage people to attend city council meetings. Enumclaw needs to be a member of the King Conservation District. I will be giving a packet of information to Liz Reynolds in the hopes that they will bring it up at the next meeting June 22.
Please tell people to read about the Thomas Farm http://www.mindfulintent.com/email_06032009.htm
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