Here's a scary statistic.... The US Census shows that during the past 30 years the average age of U.S. farmers has grown by nearly eight years, from 50.5 years to 58.3 years. (source: Agricultural Census, USDA) Unless society turns that trend around, we're going to be in a world of trouble because eventually our food will be grown by mega-industrialized robotic factory farms manufacturing genetically modified mono crops.
Notice that many of these portraits I've made here are of families... husbands, wives and children together.
So! Support your local farmer's markets -- that's how healthy organic agriculture will continue to survive in our world. This installment of "Heroes of the Farmer's Market" features quotes from past presidents (in honor of when we had intelligent, engaged people in that office). As our founding father George Washington said:
“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man.”
It's more true now than ever. And hey! Today is National Farmer's Day in the US!
Our farmers are threatened by Big Agribiz. They need us.
Alfredo Martinez of Ortiz Farms in Watsonville.
“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.”
― John F. Kennedy
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”
“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”
― Thomas Jefferson
Chef portraits of the day. These are two of my favorite people, a true inspiration to me in how they use the organic food from these farmers to create the most delicious creations.
Thanks for watching.
I have a long history of inventing tools for animators and also making films and photographs. My wife, daughter and I live at the foot of beautiful Mt. Tamalpais on the San Francisco Bay and I've been using technology to tell complex stories for a long time. My biggest claim to fame? Leading the team that created Autodesk 3ds Max... the most popular 3D animation tool of all time. When I sold the Yost Group to Autodesk at the end of the last century I jumped headfirst into pursing my original love... photography and filmmaking. Now I spend all of my time exploring the mysteries of my world with my cameras, and revealing what I find in my images and films.
You can find my verification post here.