4 ms·

Not enough software engineers converting to farming? Shocking. If anything else, for me the main issue in France is the dearth of doctors in rural areas. So ev

by yoz-y 2mo ago

Not enough software engineers converting to farming? Shocking. If anything else, for me the main issue in France is the dearth of doctors in rural areas. So even the romantic idea of retiring in quaint village is predicated on not getting sick.

tanepiper 2mo ago
This. I'm originally from the UK, now in NL and the plan was to retire in France. Being close to a hospital is one requirement since some of these villages are over a hour away. With that and climate change our plans might be changing
- 72deluxe 2mo ago
  Out of curiosity, where did you plan on retiring to and what preparations would be needed? I drove down France this year over a few weeks in an old camper van during the heatwave (like being in an oven) and it is a truly vast beautiful country. I couldn't possibly decide where to retire there, if I ever had a chance (I won't).
  - tanepiper 2mo ago
    Brittany - probably a bit west of Rennes. I like the coast but once you pass Saint-Brieuc the roads get a lot smaller. Well until this year it seemed like the coolest and most stable part of France - also the least French part and reminds me of Scotland. (We have friends who just sold up and moved to near Bordeaux - not sure it they are regretting it yet)
    - 72deluxe 2mo ago
      Thank you. I will try to visit that area. I visited outside Bordeaux at Saint Émilion and found the area very beautiful, so hopefully they don't regret it. The price of wine in the country was so amazingly reasonable that even if they did regret moving, they could live in a constant wine fugue and be oblivious to their worries, partly...?
hdgvhicv 2mo ago
Farming continues to be automated. Farms continue to be bought up for way more than their worth (farmland in the U.K. goes for 100-200 times the rental value) as part of wealth concentration.
- spwa4 2mo ago
  True, but that is not the problem.
  - hdgvhicv 2mo ago
    Nobody need to covert to farming.
retired 2mo ago
Just hire a large muscular guy from the banlieues to drive you around in your Maserati.
- katzenversteher 2mo ago
  Ideally one that is also a doctor.
frail_figure 2mo ago
> So even the romantic idea of retiring in quaint village is predicated on not getting sick. Grew up in a village. What you do is... drive to another village / town. There are always doctors to be found - and less queues than in big cities.
- yoz-y 2mo ago
  Yeah. That worked before when most villages had a doctor or a clinic. In France (and my native country too) at least the situation is getting bad. You can look up medical deserts. Driving to another part also often implies having someone to drive you.
  - vladvasiliu 2mo ago
    This. I have a colleague living in Orleans. It's a city of a little more than 100k inhabits. She apparently has a hard enough time getting a doctor's appointment that she'd rather come to Paris. If you live further out in the countryside, it can be a real PITA to find someone.
TkTech 2mo ago
> Not enough software engineers converting to farming? Shocking. I kinda have to disagree with this. Sure, there's not a lot of software engineers grabbing a hoe and moving to a quiet rural farming village. But oh boy is there a lot of money being a software engineer working on farming. I'd have to say more software engineers are working in agriculture today than ever before - it's one of the reasons why the rural areas can shrink. State programs for mechanization and increasingly advanced and hyper-specific machines are allowing crops that were labour intensive just a decade ago to be done by a team of 2-4. We went apple picking last year and the field next to us was having its apples harvested by flying drones (which was a real "we're living in the future" moment for us) while a worker sat in a lawn chair nearby reading a book. Then there's the pushes to remove transport costs and grow closer to the cities. All of our family's lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber come year round from greenhouses on the roof Walmarts, warehouses and other big block stores, just a few blocks away - https://montreal.lufa.com/en/farms https://montreal.lufa.com/en/farms. 100% "touch-free" automated greenhouses are being built and have entered full productivity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITRts-KOkuM&t=44s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITRts-KOkuM&t=44s. Cheap electricity and thousands of overbuilt (snow load) flat roofs are a good combination for city greenhouses. These "farms" employee directly and indirectly plenty of engineers of all kinds.
- yoz-y 2mo ago
  Clarkson’s farm did have a section about this. That said, you know what I meant. I have several burnt out friends who went “farming” and I assure you, programming combines and drones is not the thing they meant by going away.

by yoz-y 2mo ago

tanepiper 2mo ago

This. I'm originally from the UK, now in NL and the plan was to retire in France. Being close to a hospital is one requirement since some of these villages are over a hour away. With that and climate change our plans might be changing

72deluxe 2mo ago
Out of curiosity, where did you plan on retiring to and what preparations would be needed? I drove down France this year over a few weeks in an old camper van during the heatwave (like being in an oven) and it is a truly vast beautiful country. I couldn't possibly decide where to retire there, if I ever had a chance (I won't).
- tanepiper 2mo ago
  Brittany - probably a bit west of Rennes. I like the coast but once you pass Saint-Brieuc the roads get a lot smaller. Well until this year it seemed like the coolest and most stable part of France - also the least French part and reminds me of Scotland. (We have friends who just sold up and moved to near Bordeaux - not sure it they are regretting it yet)
  - 72deluxe 2mo ago
    Thank you. I will try to visit that area. I visited outside Bordeaux at Saint Émilion and found the area very beautiful, so hopefully they don't regret it. The price of wine in the country was so amazingly reasonable that even if they did regret moving, they could live in a constant wine fugue and be oblivious to their worries, partly...?

hdgvhicv 2mo ago

Farming continues to be automated. Farms continue to be bought up for way more than their worth (farmland in the U.K. goes for 100-200 times the rental value) as part of wealth concentration.

spwa4 2mo ago
True, but that is not the problem.
- hdgvhicv 2mo ago
  Nobody need to covert to farming.

retired 2mo ago

Just hire a large muscular guy from the banlieues to drive you around in your Maserati.

katzenversteher 2mo ago
Ideally one that is also a doctor.

frail_figure 2mo ago

> So even the romantic idea of retiring in quaint village is predicated on not getting sick. Grew up in a village. What you do is... drive to another village / town. There are always doctors to be found - and less queues than in big cities.

yoz-y 2mo ago
Yeah. That worked before when most villages had a doctor or a clinic. In France (and my native country too) at least the situation is getting bad. You can look up medical deserts. Driving to another part also often implies having someone to drive you.
- vladvasiliu 2mo ago
  This. I have a colleague living in Orleans. It's a city of a little more than 100k inhabits. She apparently has a hard enough time getting a doctor's appointment that she'd rather come to Paris. If you live further out in the countryside, it can be a real PITA to find someone.

TkTech 2mo ago

> Not enough software engineers converting to farming? Shocking. I kinda have to disagree with this. Sure, there's not a lot of software engineers grabbing a hoe and moving to a quiet rural farming village. But oh boy is there a lot of money being a software engineer working on farming. I'd have to say more software engineers are working in agriculture today than ever before - it's one of the reasons why the rural areas can shrink. State programs for mechanization and increasingly advanced and hyper-specific machines are allowing crops that were labour intensive just a decade ago to be done by a team of 2-4. We went apple picking last year and the field next to us was having its apples harvested by flying drones (which was a real "we're living in the future" moment for us) while a worker sat in a lawn chair nearby reading a book. Then there's the pushes to remove transport costs and grow closer to the cities. All of our family's lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber come year round from greenhouses on the roof Walmarts, warehouses and other big block stores, just a few blocks away - https://montreal.lufa.com/en/farms https://montreal.lufa.com/en/farms. 100% "touch-free" automated greenhouses are being built and have entered full productivity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITRts-KOkuM&t=44s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITRts-KOkuM&t=44s. Cheap electricity and thousands of overbuilt (snow load) flat roofs are a good combination for city greenhouses. These "farms" employee directly and indirectly plenty of engineers of all kinds.

yoz-y 2mo ago
Clarkson’s farm did have a section about this. That said, you know what I meant. I have several burnt out friends who went “farming” and I assure you, programming combines and drones is not the thing they meant by going away.