JUST ONE JOB

Were there no limits in my life, no societal, financial, or educational woes to bemoan, there is one profession that I would pursue with joy. What is this glorious trade, you ask? I would be a farmer. A small place, tucked away in quiet hills. Rolling acres of fruit, vegetables, and farm animals. I would rouse from my sleep at the crack of dawn, perpetually rising before the sun, and stumble into a humble kitchen, to swig coffee and watch the sunrise over my small peaceful slice of this tumultuous world. I would begin my day’s work of cleaning, feeding, tending, mucking, plucking, watering, and caring. When a day’s harvest was complete, I would load up the fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, butter, and meat, and head into the nearest Farmers Market; if I should find myself successful enough, into my own Farmers Market. My free time would be spent enjoying the company of great authors and artists, reveling in the freedom of the great outdoors, and in the care and keeping of my animals.

To some, this might seem a simpleton’s dream; however, there are as many political and sociological motives behind this dream as there are selfish inclinations. The Big Meat Industry in this country has turned life into an assembly line that ultimately ends up in Americans needy stomachs; the treatment of animals that have an inherent right to life is unacceptable, and the additives and antibiotics that are shoved into animals, vegetables, and fruit have turned food into more of an abstract idea than a reality. Processed foods and animals raised on the very unnatural diet of corn, corn, corn has caused a massive increase in the health problems in this country, primarily because the cheaper a food is, and the more accessible it is to the lower classes, the more prolific the consumption of that food will be. Small farms provide an answer to many prominent problems: no longer destroying topsoil, but enriching it; not torturing animals, however unintentional, but enhancing the quality of their lives; not removing the people from the processes that knit them together as a community, but including them. With time and experience, perhaps I would even engage myself in the drawn out legal war grounds, to fight for the side of human and animal rights.

My life would be fulfilling, enriching, and as nourishing as the food that I would so abundantly grow. As I cultivated my garden, so too would I cultivate lasting relationships and hopeful positive change.