There is a growing trend of young people without an agricultural background choosing farming as a way of life – this is happening worldwide. Who are these youth, why are they changing their lives and why are they choosing agroecology?
There is a growing trend of young people without an agricultural background choosing farming as a way of life – this is happening worldwide. Who are these youth, why are they changing their lives and why are they choosing agroecology?
We have documented new peasants’ experiences from Zimbabwe, Europe, Brazil and China in the latest issue of Farming Matters, 'Rural-urban linkages'. In these stories, as well as in several other reports and films, we see the many contributions of new peasants to alternative food and farming systems.
New peasants come from vastly different backgrounds and circumstances. Yet they share the motivation to contribute to fundamental changes to the food system, and they have chosen farming as their entry point. They don’t often have a farming background and may have spent years studying and working in cities. For many, this goes against the expectations that they pursue an academic or office-bound career. In the words of fruit grower Anne Giraud (28) from France: “I had always been told: you are an intellectual, you will go to university.” But seeking more freedom and a connection to the land and growing food, young people like Anne choose farming instead.
Having no agricultural ‘heritage’ in terms of knowledge or land (as explained in this column by Sidney Ortun Flament and Bruno Macias), they often struggle, especially in the first years. Nevertheless, they are proving that family farming is a desirable and viable way of life and that a fresh perspective goes a long way.
Anne Giraud (28) and Remi Lonjon (30) started their small-scale organic berry farm in the mountains near La Brigue in the South of France with the help of Terre de Liens. Next to the organic fresh small-fruit, marmalades and syrups they sell eggs from their 60 chicken on weekly farming markets and through AMAPs: Community Supported Agriculture. Video by Future Farmers.
They choose agroecology because it embodies both the environmental and social alternatives that they seek – to farm with ecological integrity and to build local communities around food production and consumption. In practice this plays out in as many different ways as there are farmers. Amongst others, we see that this translates into producing and consuming safe and healthy food, connecting with nature, spending more time with family, strengthening communities and preserving ‘rural’ spaces within cities.
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