Be the change you wish to see in the World...

Well its official. Sort of. Mostly.

We got a farm. And I already know what you're going to say, "where's the pictures?" Trust me I understand how underwhelming a blog post is without pictures, and this being my second offense, I seriously run the risk of losing readers so I'm going to find you a picture of some sort to post. :)

I'll give you more details as we get closer, and I get pictures. But let me give you a little taste... 42 acres. WHAT?!? Yup, 42. Holy Shit, that's a lot of land. And it has some awesome housemates/landmates. Young people our age with similar goals, interests, and work ethics, its going to keep the rent cheap,and the helping hands abundant. In fact they are already out there, with chickens, llamas, and goats. So it has already started. And we are STOKED!

But laying in bed this morning unable to sleep due to all the thoughts running through my head, I realized there has been a great leap in connecting dots for some of you, huge shifts in our way of thinking, major changes in our overall plans, some on a daily basis. So I wanted to take the time to answer the question:

"Why Farming?"

For me the answer is a simple one, I love food. Always have. Some of you were aware that one of the reasons we moved out here was so that I could go to Culinary School. That is still a goal. But with the end result being owning our own restaurant or cafe, I have become obsessed with food sourcing. You know that whole slow food, eat local, support your local farmer craze that's sweeping the nation...? Well not quite yet, but we are going to do our part. Just like in construction where I am also OCD in trying to control all aspects of the material sourcing, waste, and final product, I'm worse when it comes to my thought process on our food situation.

The second part to my answer is a bit more complicated. I believe that with knowledge and wealth comes great responsibility. And since we live in the richest, most prosperous, most educated country, I feel a duty to apply the knowledge of our countries food situation, to a local solution stemming from our back yard. The majority of our national agricultural product is grown to feed animals. Granted we usually end up eating those animals, but the food we grow to feed them is not the nutrition they need or flourish on, rather its cheap to grow, and causes fast animal meat production. Not to mention leads to horrible animal treatment situations. Also we import vegetables from all over the world, in order to provide grocery stores and consumers visually perfect, out of season, nutritiously deficient, products that have traveled thousands of miles to arrive in your town.

So whats the solution you ask? Easy. Know where the food you feed your kids, your family, yourself, comes from. Our goal is to provide as close to a closed loop food system as possible while still living in a modern society. Our animals will be pastured on our land, fed supplemental feed grown on our land, or a neighbors. We will grow fruits and vegetables that everyone knows and loves, and some "imported" exotics, while utilizing Oregon's temperate climate to provide the staples year round. We will preserve, and prepare, food products from our land to help tide people over during the winter months. In the long run, our cafe, or possibly food truck, will only serve food cooked with ingredients that we had a hand in every stage of production.

Its going to be a long and tiring road to get there I know, with lots of bumps and changes of plans I'm sure, but we are both so excited that all the work might just feel like play... ;) Even if we only succeed in feeding ourselves and our friends and loved ones, that would be a giant success in my mind. And one small  aspect of affecting the change we wish to see in the world. I cant wait to share these experiences with you all.

 

Told you I was going to post a picture! And this one sums up Americas food system quite well.