Friday, April 8, 2011

From FarmKind

Farm Kind was founded to be a place where everyone can come to learn about issues concerning our food, how it is produced, and the many complex connections it has to our world and our lives.

Who and what is Farm Kind? Farm Kind was founded by myself, Harold Brown. Some folks call me Farmer Brown. I was born on a family farm and spent half of my life in agriculture. This includes three years working in the dairy industry. Growing up a farm kid gave me a rich experience that few people have the benefit of knowing these days. It taught me the value of community, of hard work, and that our personal choices have everything to do with the world we create.

This website is intended to be a resource for farmers who want to make the transition from animal based to plant based agriculture, for consumers to learn a different perspective on how food is produced, to help those who desire to reconnect with the land and become farmers, to support local food production, environmental and social justice issues, the rights of all living beings to be co-cohabitants of this planet, and how these things have everything to do with creating the peaceful world that all beings desire.

Does this website hold all of the answers? Not at all, but we all need to start some place and like the old saying goes, the longest journey begins with a single step.

Like anything worthwhile, learning new information or a different perspective is hard work and can really challenge us emotionally, intellectually, and even spiritually. I kind of think about it like digging a ditch or postholes. At the beginning of the day I would dread the prospect of the toil but once I started I found a rhythm, a flow to the work. It went from being drudgery to being a type of moving meditation where I was able to contemplate many things and learn how to most efficiently use my body. It started with a single movement and led to a sense of inner peace.

Join me on this journey, this work in progress, and see where it takes us.

Peace,
Farmer Brown

1 comment:

mythopolis said...

I think this kind of enterprise or 'movement' is very important. Hopefully, grassroots efforts might one day have enough momentum to form coalitions and gain political strength to make a dent in the power elites of agribusiness empires. It's not impossible, but it would require a David vs Goliath paradigm. I still find it a bit overwhelming to think about.