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That farm would be unable to exist without making documentaries, cook books, seminars and guided tours. I'm way more interested in what policies and changes can

That farm would be unable to exist without making documentaries, cook books, seminars and guided tours. I'm way more interested in what policies and changes can be used to nudge traditional farming into more sustainable (both financially and ecologically) practices as we need farmers that are able to make a living without becoming a marketing project.

Ekaros 3y ago
I always wonder about things like scaling and sustainability with these movements. Do we need to move some labour back to agriculture with changes they want? And were will the pay for those jobs come from? As surely they should be well paid jobs, right? Right? So what will be the affordability at the end for food in general?
- spiderfarmer 3y ago
  Fruits and vegetables will still be affordable, as long as you don't value your time and are willing to limit yourself to a handful of varieties.
- onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
  In the 1950s, the average household spent ~30% of after-tax income on food. It's down to ~12%. Housing costs just went up to capture the excess "savings". https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+gdp+that+goes+to+food+since+1900&sca_esv=562751389&sxsrf=AB5stBh0ChaPR24aIKJiuK08l https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+gdp+that+goes+... The vast majority of people would rather eat crap and buy another toaster they don't need and add another bathroom to their house they'll hardly ever use then spend more money on quality food.
cryptonector 3y ago
Small farms can be sustainable as a business model, and I know some (namely, the ones I buy from at farmers' markets), but it's rough going. Then again, all the few homesteaders I know have a person employed in big tech or fintech who makes the investment possible, but that investment can yield a homestead farm that can eventually run with very low income once it's set up. I also know people in rural Texas who truly manage to live on small farm business income, but if you measure the quality of their lives by consumption, it's not very high, though to be fair they typically don't want to consume a lot. Anyways, I'm also interested in how to nudge big ag to do better with less pesticide and herbicide use. It's hard to scale up good small farm practices to large farms.

Ekaros 3y ago

I always wonder about things like scaling and sustainability with these movements. Do we need to move some labour back to agriculture with changes they want? And were will the pay for those jobs come from? As surely they should be well paid jobs, right? Right? So what will be the affordability at the end for food in general?

spiderfarmer 3y ago
Fruits and vegetables will still be affordable, as long as you don't value your time and are willing to limit yourself to a handful of varieties.
onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
In the 1950s, the average household spent ~30% of after-tax income on food. It's down to ~12%. Housing costs just went up to capture the excess "savings". https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+gdp+that+goes+to+food+since+1900&sca_esv=562751389&sxsrf=AB5stBh0ChaPR24aIKJiuK08l https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+gdp+that+goes+... The vast majority of people would rather eat crap and buy another toaster they don't need and add another bathroom to their house they'll hardly ever use then spend more money on quality food.

cryptonector 3y ago

Small farms can be sustainable as a business model, and I know some (namely, the ones I buy from at farmers' markets), but it's rough going. Then again, all the few homesteaders I know have a person employed in big tech or fintech who makes the investment possible, but that investment can yield a homestead farm that can eventually run with very low income once it's set up. I also know people in rural Texas who truly manage to live on small farm business income, but if you measure the quality of their lives by consumption, it's not very high, though to be fair they typically don't want to consume a lot. Anyways, I'm also interested in how to nudge big ag to do better with less pesticide and herbicide use. It's hard to scale up good small farm practices to large farms.