February 25th 2023
The Agrarian Perspective
Recently I mentioned that less than 1% of our population is farming. I have often wondered what has been lost in this transition off the land. Of course, there’s the obvious loss to local economies, food security, and land access and ownership come to mind. But I have had a notion for quite some time that there is an intrinsic benefit to the agrarian perspective in and of itself. Webster's definition is sparse at best, summarized as a person who grows crops or raises livestock. This simply doesn't do our work justice. I began to notice the world in a totally new light when I began farming, nearly ten years ago. I began to pay attention to when the grass started to green, I would look for dung beetles in manure heaps, it seemed as if overnight everything changed and was brilliantly more alive. This shift happened again when I started beekeeping, and I would notice anything in bloom and whether or not the conditions were right for the bees to get out and forage. This level of awareness doesn't ever go away. I no longer keep bees, but I still find myself fretting over the budding water maples and celebrating the first dandelions, wondering if the bees are out foraging. But what good is awareness? What does it really mean? What does it add to our lives or our relationships, or our culture? To work with the land is to be subject to a different set of rules. I'm reminded quite often that I have much less control than I think I do. This work demands observation, stillness, patience and an undeniable amount of stubbornness. This is not simply a job, but it's a way of being in the world. In a world that is rushed and loud and often presented with the illusion of control, I think living with the agrarian mindset can be quite helpful. Like all good things, this way of being is something we refine over time, something that we progress in, without ever fully arriving. I can't help but wonder how different the world could be if we started to really see it, if we started to really see one another. Farming is not a career, or a place, or perhaps even some noble calling. It is a choice that we make everyday to be present and grow, nourish, and tend to our places with the utmost care. This is a choice that is open to all of us everyday, and even if we leave the fields or find our barns sitting empty, this awareness and this life never truly leave us.