The Real Dirt on Farmer John

I don't watch a lot of documentaries, and I don't read a lot of memoirs. However, to my surprise, I found The Real Dirt on Farmer John rather compelling. It isn’t difficult to see the plot unfolding through this nonfiction narrative. Any viewer can relate as John Peterson experiences the loss of family members and the failure of romantic relationships, and while he is in many ways an atypical farmer, he experienced the ups and downs of farming just like everyone else. The ‘80s hit him hard, but he found a way to succeed even in the face of impending bankruptcy: community supported agriculture. 

Most interestingly in my opinion, the film reveals a rigidity within farm culture that I never thought about before, but which in retrospect seems fairly obvious. We couldn't have the farmer stereotype if it wasn't true of a significant portion of the farmer population at some point in history. Apparently even farmers think that farmers should be wiry, stubborn, conservative men who wear overalls and trucker caps. John Peterson loved to farm, but in most ways, he didn’t fit the image. His voice and movements fit not into the farmer stereotype, but into the gay man stereotype, which was enough to raise the suspicions of his neighbors. His frequent escapes to Mexico to find himself spiritually during times of hardship give the impression of a man with the spirit of a poet.

Whenever he attempted to display his individuality through his clothing and the people he'd bring to the farm, he was met with considerable backlash from his community. It seems so strange that even in the relatively isolated communities of farming, differences could spark so much hostility. This suggests that the monoculture of farming doesn’t just refer to the crops. Everyone plants one kind of corn, and everyone projects the image of one kind of farmer. John Peterson was only able to achieve success on his farm when he embraced his own quirks and let the community embrace him back, and it makes me wonder if the traditional farmer mold is actually one of the reasons for the decline of farming in recent decades. Maybe there are few who want to be a farmer, but many who would enjoy being themselves while also farming.

Siegel, Taggart. The Real Dirt On Farmer John. Full frame [ed.] New York: Gaiam Media, 2008.

Farming of the Future

            My favorite of the TED talks I watched is probably Joe Salatin’s talk about the essence of farming. I’ve always brushed off the complaints of animal rights activists about how horribly the animals are treated before they get turned into hamburgers and chicken nuggets. I never really cared—the way I saw it, my personal participation in the market system is too negligible to affect what happens to the animals while they’re still alive, and since the one here on my plate is already dead, I may as well put it to good use and eat it. They were never going to convince me to become a vegetarian with their arguments about the welfare of the animals. Meat simply tastes too good for any consideration to be able to induce me to give it up, so I’ve dismissed the quality of life of the animals as not my concern. However, Salatin illustrated how this exact factor can benefit the hungry carnivore such as myself at the same time as it benefits the animals. By letting chickens live to the fullest potential of “essence of chicken,” they produced better eggs! How much better would cow’s milk taste if the cows were provided with everything they needed to discover the “essence of cow”? How much better would meat taste if it only came as the conclusion of a fulfilling animal life? These are all fascinating questions worth considering, and they might just steer me towards the organic foods aisle the next time I go to the grocery store.

            In three of the other TED talks I watched (by Mohamed Hage, Dickson Despommier, and Stephen Ritz), I could see a clear theme that farming is the key, not just to solving current and future food shortage problems, but to revitalizing our cities. Rooftop gardens and vertical farming can be an energy efficient and space efficient source of fresh food, fresh air, and employment in cities. “Edible walls” are a fantastic way to connect people (especially underprivileged kids) to each other, the earth, their community, and future career possibilities. All of these videos do away with the age-old idea that farming must be done in the open fields. It can be on top of buildings, inside them, and it can even turn sideways and run up our very walls.

 
It needn’t be done only by the stereotypical farmer—anyone can get involved, and they won’t necessarily end up covered in dirt and sweat. Better food can result, because we can control the very elements (as in atoms, not earth, air, fire, water) in which the plants grow. There is no need for pesticides or other harsh chemicals. The weather does not control the crop yields. Ultimately, urban farming is the bright, exciting future of food.

One Hour of FarmVille

So I have now played FarmVille for an hour. Behold the fruits of my labor:

What's that, you say? You don't see the aforementioned fruits?

Well that would be because it takes FOUR MORE HOURS before I can harvest anything. You see the little farmer me there on the side? Even her tiny, low-resolution features seem to reflect my boredom and disdain. Don't believe me? Take a closer look:

That is the face of a woman who has given up on trying to find meaning in anything.

Now, I've had gaming problems before. When I was in grade school, I enjoyed endless (meaning that there is no clear storyline or ultimate goal) games like World of Warcraft to a certain point, but my addiction was Pharaoh, a simple but awesome ancient Egyptian city-builder. I could easily sink many hours of every day into that game, to the point that I forgot to be hungry when mealtimes came around. And more recently, the games like Candy Crush were my poison. Knowing that FarmVille was a lot like a city builder and that I am quite capable of getting addicted to games, I was very anxious about playing this game.

I needn't have feared. The interface is clumsy, buggy, and confusing. You don't see results from your labor for far too long for it to feel exciting, and when I couldn't even find a red barn to build on my land, I stopped caring entirely.