I think this is it. And I suspect most of these folks don't honestly believe they want to actually run acres and acres of farmland as a commercial enterprise.

I think this is it. And I suspect most of these folks don't honestly believe they want to actually run acres and acres of farmland as a commercial enterprise. But speaking as someone who has a small herd of sheep, a few pigs every year and processes his own 50~ meat birds on the property every year. I know how much it sucks to watch a lamb and mother die in childbirth. I know the itch of thousands of hay cuts after clearing a field of bales and putting them up. And I also have a 2g fiber line to my house and work a tech job remotely for my primary income. My desire to do the land things is not based on mythology. It's because the food tastes better when I helped raise it. It's a slight independence from some of the modern just-in-time food conveniences. It also means I have to work with my neighbors, cause who else is gonna help you cull a dying sheep in a pouring rain and put it down and get it in the compost? I don't do these things because they're easy. I do them because I feel a little more alive once it's over and I've shared a difficult moment, or a delicious meal with a friend or my children.