This New York Times article is very interesting to read because it explains how the USA landscape is changing with more younger Americans becoming involved in starting their own sustainable farms. More independent farmers are motivated in using old farming techniques to grow their own organic vegetables and raise grass-fed meats. Read the NYT article and view the slide show below to learn why more Americans are interested in sustainable agriculture.
Tyler and Alicia Jones on their farm in Corvallis, Ore.
By ISOLDE RAFTERY
Published: March 5, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. — For years, Tyler Jones, a livestock farmer here, avoided telling his grandfather how disillusioned he had become with industrial farming.
After all, his grandfather had worked closely with Earl L. Butz, the former federal secretary of agriculture who was known for saying, “Get big or get out.”
But several weeks before his grandfather died, Mr. Jones broached the subject. His grandfather surprised him. “You have to fix what Earl and I messed up,” Mr. Jones said his grandfather told him.
Now, Mr. Jones, 30, and his wife, Alicia, 27, are among an emerging group of people in their 20s and 30s who have chosen farming as a career. Many shun industrial, mechanized farming and list punk rock, Karl Marx and the food journalist Michael Pollan as their influences. The Joneses say they and their peers are succeeding because of Oregon’s farmer-foodie culture, which demands grass-fed and pasture-raised meats....
