Re: formally educated farmers...

Steve Diver (steved@ncatark.uark.edu)
Fri, 5 Feb 1999 17:15:43 +0000

> By the way, thank you to those of you who understood very well what I
> was asking and gave me your intersting stories. So far, it would
> seem that organic farms are being run by all manner of liberal
> arts-types and I can only suppose that the graduates of ag school are
> farming conventionally.

Anita,

Virginia Biological Farmers published the results of a similar
survey in their newsletter a couple years back. As I recall
the outcome was similar to what you summarized above. A
good percentage of organic farmers have higher ed degrees
in liberal arts. The survey was well done, probably worth
checking into. Contact:

Virginia Association for Biological Farming
P.O. Box 10721
Blacksburg, VA 24062-0721
Contact: Shana Kresmer-Harris
(540) 967-9212
(540) 633-6633 FAX
URL: http://www.vvac.org/vabf/
Publishes The Virginia Biological Farmer bi-monthly.
Editor's e-mail: mschonbeck@usa.net

One of the difficulties in the sustainable to conventional
continuum, anymore, is that it is becoming harder to define
what is "conventional." Quite a few farmers practice best
management practices, and stewardship is a core value on
many a farm no matter what your flavor. Probably, the
sustainable angle is just as much a mindset. Do the farmers
identify themselves with sustainable? When there is a
congnitive shift in the way farmers think, you will notice
differences in language and terminology, as well as in
socio-cultural associations.

Steve Diver

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