Spring 2023: Farmers

To be a farmer in the here and now means existing at a time when the average age of a farm producer in the United States is fifty-seven years old. It means competing in a field increasingly dominated by robots and consolidation. It means going against the grain, choosing the outdoors, the tactile, the scent of onions freshly pulled from the earth. It means, more than ever, adapting to a constant state of uncertainty and change.

In this issue of edible, we celebrate the people who commit to that labor. In particular, these pages center agriculturalists who practice the art of growing vegetables. We visit three farms in north and central New Mexico, each unique in vision, structure, and the cumulative experience of the farmers who tend to it. While there is no “average” farmer, their portraits offer windows into some of the dialogue taking place among local growers. Water, as Shahid Mustafa notes, concerns them—and us—all. Writing from his farm in La Union, Mustafa reflects on the profound uncertainty of the water supply for farmers south of Elephant Butte.

In a survey shared with farmers and CSA programs as we worked on this issue, we asked, “If resources were no issue, what are the first three things you’d do on your farm?” Many answered as you might expect, listing off vital equipment (tractors, coolers, fencing) and sharing a desire to hire more staff and/or give raises. Some want to create space for community or donate more food. And several mentioned goals related to improving irrigation, whether with water catchment, new wells, or drip lines.

“This question will never make sense,” one farmer replied, meaning, for farmers, resources are always an issue. “There is a disconnect,” another wrote, “between the call for more quality local produce and the understanding of the level of resources needed by farmers to answer that call.”

What does it mean to value the vegetables you eat? How can we, not only as individuals but as a collective, better support those growing? We offer a spectrum of answers, from farm-to-table dining options to opportunities for direct support of growers to planting the seed of action: understanding. The results are somewhat like the greens of the cruciferous family—delicious despite being good for you.

To be a farmer in the here and now means existing at a time when the average age of a farm producer in the United States is fifty-seven years old. It means competing in a field increasingly dominated by robots and consolidation. It means going against the grain, choosing the outdoors, the tactile, the scent of onions freshly pulled from the earth. It means, more than ever, adapting to a constant state of uncertainty and change.

In this issue of edible, we celebrate the people who commit to that labor. In particular, these pages center agriculturalists who practice the art of growing vegetables. We visit three farms in north and central New Mexico, each unique in vision, structure, and the cumulative experience of the farmers who tend to it. While there is no “average” farmer, their portraits offer windows into some of the dialogue taking place among local growers. Water, as Shahid Mustafa notes, concerns them—and us—all. Writing from his farm in La Union, Mustafa reflects on the profound uncertainty of the water supply for farmers south of Elephant Butte.

In a survey shared with farmers and CSA programs as we worked on this issue, we asked, “If resources were no issue, what are the first three things you’d do on your farm?” Many answered as you might expect, listing off vital equipment (tractors, coolers, fencing) and sharing a desire to hire more staff and/or give raises. Some want to create space for community or donate more food. And several mentioned goals related to improving irrigation, whether with water catchment, new wells, or drip lines.

“This question will never make sense,” one farmer replied, meaning, for farmers, resources are always an issue. “There is a disconnect,” another wrote, “between the call for more quality local produce and the understanding of the level of resources needed by farmers to answer that call.”

What does it mean to value the vegetables you eat? How can we, not only as individuals but as a collective, better support those growing? We offer a spectrum of answers, from farm-to-table dining options to opportunities for direct support of growers to planting the seed of action: understanding. The results are somewhat like the greens of the cruciferous family—delicious despite being good for you.

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