A Beginning Farmer’s Decision: Organic vs. Certified Naturally Grown
May 29th, 2009 By MK Wyle
As an apprentice farmer hoping to strike off on my own sometime soon, I’m pretty much always asking myself, “where should I farm?” Should I return to Georgia, where I have family and friends? Stay in Massachusetts, with its farmer-friendly state government and affordable health insurance? I hear Pennsylvania has a great climate for tree fruit… Recently I asked my current farm boss, Don, if he thought that the market near Williamstown could support another CSA farm. “That depends on whom you ask,” he noted after some thought. “There are farmers who hear of a new farm in the area and worry that the extra competition will hurt their own business; others view a new farm as an asset, an additional resource when you’ve got problems or questions, as well as another reason for townsfolk to buy local.”
His answer stuck with me. And since I received it, I’ve begun to notice more and more the ways that the farmers I know support and assist one another. Read More