Switching: Consultant to Farmer

One of my favorite professors in undergrad always said “…make your own decisions in life, because if you don’t, other people will make them for you…”

After a few years working in consulting and tech, I decided I wanted to do work that had overlap with multiple interests of mine, and in working on it I would be developing various muscles that could lead to a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

This small farm grows for its restaurant by the same owners, its brewery, and for the community through a CSA.

I identified values or topics that have broadly persisted with me through my life — the environment, health, and community.

What that turned into, for me, was to pursue agriculture. A very broad topic, but one that converges on multiple disciplines I find inspiring. It’s a space that leaves a lot of doors open.

As someone who may or may not struggle with indecision, the interdisciplinary nature of agriculture gives me peace of mind.

Also, the simple act of producing food — something objectively necessary for human life, that is often a force to bring people together to eat — feels good.

Enjoying a lunch prepared by an amazing chef with some of our greens (fellow farmers Hannah and Bryan).

With a background in white collar work, I didn’t see myself as a prime applicant to get into agriculture. I volunteered on farms growing up, but never considered it seriously as a potential vocation. And I wonder about that.

Why was agriculture not a legitimate option from my perspective? Was it just me and my own limited outlook? Was it my school, my social circles, my community?

Probably some combination… but I’d argue that the majority of millennials were raised without agriculture as a tangible career option.

And I hope that changes, and I hope I can impact that by sharing my own experience as it continues to unfold.

From a great visit to a community garden in the Bronx.

Urban agriculture was the most accessible form of agriculture for me, as someone who had started in consulting, and then worked at a tech startup. Working in the city continued on the career track that I was following.

But then actually working in agriculture has afforded me the opportunity to think about careers a little differently.

Waking up and using my hands to plant tiny seeds, which, with the proper care, will grow into plants that can thrive on their own and nourish those who choose to consume them is a significant departure from my previous daily tasks.

Inside my farm in Brooklyn. Sometimes I still have to write emails too…!

Doing something physical and creating a tangible product has helped me find the infrastructure in my life to pay closer to attention to what I’m doing, what I’m thinking, and how I’m feeling. Some days that’s a good thing, and some days it could be better.

Ultimately, the world did not stop spinning when I stepped off of the traditional career track I had been following, it actually became more open and exciting.

But what about making a living?

Agriculture is not particularly lucrative for the average farmer. For now, being a single male in my twenties with no mortgage and no family, I am in the position where that’s okay, and I can live simply. I wouldn’t call it the most sustainable savings and investment strategy, but at the moment it’s a privilege I’m lucky to afford.

What about in 5 -10 years? Won’t my cost of living increase? Most likely, yes. If it does, I can reasonably expect that if I continue learning within a supportive infrastructure in a growing industry, then I should be positioned to earn more, if needed.

I am confident there will be more jobs in the urban agriculture space in the future.

I’m also curious to meet folks across the industry in an effort to understand how small operations can be economically viable so that we can perpetuate a culture that values its farmers and its food.

The beginnings of a friend’s small farm in Maine from early Spring ‘18.

As part of this, I’m keen to learn more about other methods of growing — soil, aquaponics, and otherwise — we may need them all for a future that sustains us and the earth.

We don’t have a silver bullet for the future of agriculture at the moment, but an introduction to hydroponics has been a great platform to start to explore the history of farming, as well as how it’s evolving indoors, outdoors, and all over the world.

My hope is that the world of agriculture becomes more accessible.

If I write about it and share my own experience, hopefully I can have an impact on people thinking about it, practicing it, and valuing it.

A dragonfly surveys the fields on a recent visit to a farm near where I grew up.

With a lot of effort and a little luck, agriculture can become normalized as a field in which one can reasonably expect to work and provide for their communities, families, and selves.

I do believe that if we’re all a little closer to agriculture, we’ll all be a little better off.

Thank you for reading!