|
最近比较迷有机食物，在微博上看到一篇相关报道，看到需要翻译，热心的花房就充一回大头吧，尽力哈，如有错误或是曲解，尽请指出。 原文： Who Are The Young Farmers Of 'Generation Organic'? For decades, as young people have been leaving farms behind, the average age of the American farmer has been rising. The last time the government counted farmers, in 2002, the average farmer was 55-years-old. But there's a new surge of youthful vigor into American agriculture — at least in the corner of it devoted to organic, local food. Thousands of young people who've never farmed before are trying it out. Some 250 of them gathered recently at a gorgeous estate in the Hudson River valley of New York: the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Tarrytown. Some of these young farmers already have their own farms. Some are apprentices, working on more established farms for a year or two. And others are still just thinking about it. But the overwhelming majority of farmers here at this conference want to farm without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. They were there to learn skills — from seminars on soil fertility, handling sheep, and how to find affordable land — and just as importantly, to meet each other. In the evening, they played music and danced. They represent a new breed of farmer. Very few of them grew up on farms. Most of them went to college. And now, they want to grow vegetables, or feed pigs. I had to ask them: "Why?" Some talk about what they hope to accomplish. "It was born out of a concern for the environment," says Brian Bates, who plans to work at a farm in northern Michigan after he graduates from Penn State. "I spent the first two years of college with one question in mind – basically, how can I have the greatest impact in my life in the world. And the thing that I kept coming back to, that everyone connected to, was food." Others say that they simply enjoy the work, the style of agrarian life, and the connection to food. "I feel lost when I'm not farming, when I'm not out in the field. It's where I find the most peace and harmony in my life," says Liz Moran, who helps manage Quail Hill Farm in the eastern end of Long Island, New York. "When I look around, and you're amongst the plants and the sunshine – that's my office, that's where I want to be," said Rodger Phillips, who grows food on an urban farm in Hartford, Conn. Others talk about the satisfaction of doing something practical, creating something valuable. "Having a skill was really important to me. Having studied political science, I wanted to do something that was productive, that was real. To have a real skill, and be able to provide my family, my community, a vital element," says Kristin Carbone, who runs Radix Farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. And then there was Lindsey Shute. "How did I get into farming? Because I started dating a farmer!" she says with a laugh. This is an idealistic crowd; nobody says that they're doing it to make money. Some describe their farming as a kind of protest against the idea that success means a big paycheck, or as a protest against an economy dominated by big corporations. Lindsey Shute's husband Ben has been running his own farm in Tivoli, New York, for ten years now. He says that the great thing about farming is that it's a really practical form of idealism. "It's all well and good – and important – to have political opinions, and protest, and things like that. But when you're farming, you get to live your values, and farm the world that you want to see," he says. Nobody knows exactly how many young farmers like this there are. They certainly don't produce more than a tiny sliver of the country's food. But they do seem to be part of a real social movement. Organic farmers who used to spend part of the winter recruiting workers for the next summer now are turning people away. This conference, which started four years ago, sells out. This year, it sold out months ahead of time. But along with the enthusiasm, I heard uncertainty and even some anxiety — about making enough money, or whether they were quite ready to settle in one place for good. Many said that their parents wish they were doing something else – something less risky, and better-paying. It made me wonder whether they'll really be able to stick with it. So for a little perspective on this generation, I looked up a real old-timer of the local, organic food movement: Jim Crawford, who runs New Morning Farm, in south-central Pennsylvania. On weekends, he gets up before 4 a.m. and brings vegetables to markets in Washington, D.C. When Crawford looks at today's new generation of would-be farmers, he sees himself, when he was younger. "I had exactly the same things in my head forty years ago," says. "Exactly the same." In 1972, Crawford was in law school in Washington, D.C., and working on Capitol Hill, but not enjoying it much. Through happenstance, he ended up running a vegetable garden in West Virginia one summer. He really liked it, and got got more serious about it. But soon the summer was over. "I didn't really want to go back to law school in the city, but I knew I had to," he recalls. "So I went back, and I walked into law school ... and I said, 'I'm just not going to do this! I'm going to go the other way!' So I went back out outside, and went back out [to West Virginia]." Farming — the work, and the independence, and the connection to something as important and real as soil and food — was the one thing that he wanted to throw himself into. And he's been doing it ever since. But it wasn't always a big happy folk dance. "I can remember feeling kind of desperate, and having many failures, a lot of failures, in the first couple of years of growing crops and not really knowing what I was doing," he says. But there's one thing he had, and it's a big reason why he's still farming. He loved the business side of it: finding customers and making a living on his own. That sense of farming as a business is probably the biggest thing the young farmers have to learn, he says. It's what he preaches to the young apprentices who come to his farm to work. (He's had more than 200 such apprentices over the years.) Ideals are great, he tells them. "But if you're going to stick with it, and expect to make a living at it, you've got to be realistic about the business aspects: Money, and managing money, and borrowing money, and all the things that a business person has to do. And you have to accept that, and learn to like that – somewhat, at least – and be willing to be good at that." That may mean compromises, he says. Maybe it means burning a little more fossil fuel, so you can get your vegetables to a city, where people pay higher prices. That's OK, Crawford says. Making tradeoffs, but holding onto what's most important - that's what growing up is all about. 温控花房译文： 谁是新一代有机农民 几十年来，年轻人不断的离开农场之后，美国农民的平均年龄呈现增长势态。最近一次的政府统计数据表明，在2002年，农民的平均年龄为55岁。 现在，有新一拨年轻的勇士们进入了美国农业，至少投身到了有机和本地食物的生产中。许多从未有过经验的年轻人，也乐于尝试从事农业。 近期大约有250人聚集在纽约的哈德逊河谷一华丽的建筑物——石头谷仓，位于纽约州塔利镇的粮食和农业中心。 这些年轻农民之中，一些已经拥有了属于自己的农场；另些是在著名的农场里实习过一年或两年的学徒。其余的，则是刚刚开始了有成为农民的想法。然而，来参会的绝大多数农民都想不使用化肥和农药的方式来耕种和养殖。 大伙来到这里，为了学习各种技巧，包括讨论土壤的肥力，处理羊只，以及如何能找到有能力的购买的土地，更重要的是，为了互相见面交流。在晚上，大伙演奏音乐，跳起了舞蹈。 他们代表了新一代的农民。他们中的大多数人都上过大学，而极少人在农场中成长。但现在，他们想要去种植蔬菜，或是亲自喂养猪只。 笔者曾经问过他们：“为什么？” 一些受访者谈论了他们希望达到的目标。 “这个想法来自于对环境的关心”，Brian Bates说。他计划从宾夕法尼亚州大学毕业后，就到一个位于北密歇根周的农场工作。他说：“在前两年大学期间，脑海中一直存在着一个问题——在我的生命当中，世界上什么东西对我的生命影响是最大的。这个东西，与每个人都有联系，就是食物。” 有些人说，他们只是喜欢这项工作，与土地接触的生活方式，以及能与食物接触。 “当我在田野里，如果不务农，我就会感到迷失，”Liz Moran说，“我在那儿找到了生命中的平等和和谐。”她帮助经营位于纽约东部长岛的Quail Hill农场。 Rodger Phillips说：“当我环顾四周，站在植物和阳光中——这是我的办公室，这就是我想要的。”他在一个位于哈佛的城市农场中种植作物。 有些人提出的是关于做一些实际的事情，创造一些有价值的物质而获得得满意度的讨论。在马里兰万宝路经营Radix农场的Kirstin Carbone说：“拥有一项技能，对我来说真的非常重要。在研究了政治学之后，我想要做一些生产性的事情，那是真实性的事情。拥有一项真正的技能，同时能服务于我的家庭，我的国家，这是一个至关重要的因素。” 然后Lindsey Shute笑着说：“知道我是怎么进入农业的吗？是从我和一个农民约会开始的。” 这是一个理想化的群体，他们之中没有人会说，务农是为了赚钱。一些人称务农是一种抗议，抵抗成功即意味着一份高的薪水的想法，或是作为抗议大公司盘踞经济的主导地位。 Lindsey Shute的丈夫，本，十年来一直经营着他自己位于纽约Tivoli的农场。他说，农业最伟大的意义在于，它是唯心主义的一个真正的，实际的形式。他说：“拥有政治观点，抗议等类似的事情是好的，也是重要的，但是当你耕作时，你按照你的价值观去生活，耕作出你想要看到的世界。” 没有人确切知道，到底有多少这样的青年农民。他们的产品只占国家食品中极其微小的一部分，但他们似乎是一个真实的社会运动中的一部分。有机农业者为了明年夏季的农活曾经在冬季招聘工人，但现在工人们都离开了。 始于四年前的这个研讨会，门票一直都是紧俏的，今年在开始的几个月前，门票已经销售一空。 然而，随着热情，笔者也听到了不确定性，甚至有些担忧——关于能否赚取足够的钱，或是否人们已经准备好永远的驻扎在同一个地方。许多人说，他们的父母希望他们做些其他的一些低风险，高薪水的事情。 这让笔者疑惑，这些青年农民是否能坚持下去。 为了给这代人一些提示，笔者找到一位真正的参与种植本地有机食物运动的长者——Jim Crawford。他经营者New Morning 农场，农场位于宾夕法尼亚周中南部。在周末，Jim Crawford 早晨4点之前就起床，然后带着蔬菜到华盛顿售卖。 当Crawford看到今天新一代的农民时，他看到了他年轻时代的自己。“四十年前，在我的头脑中也着像这样的理念”他说：“完全一样”。 1972年，Crawford在华盛顿的法学院，为国会工作，但他不是很喜欢这份工作。一个偶然，在一个夏天，他来到了西佛吉尼亚州一个菜园里工作，他着实喜欢上了这个菜园，也更认真的工作，但是夏天结束了，他的工作也结束了。 “虽然不是真的想回去，但我不得不回到了城市中的法学院，”Crawford回忆道：“所以，我就回城市了，走进了法学院…，然后我说，我就是不要这样做，我要走另外一条路，之后，我就走了出来，回到了西佛吉尼亚。” 农业——工作、独立、土地和食物有着重要且真实的联系的一些事物——正是Crawford想将自己投身其中的事业，而且他从事至今。但是农业也不是一项总是充满快乐的“民间舞蹈”。 Crawford说：“我还能记起绝望的感觉，还有许多次的失败，非常多的失败，在开始种植农作物的头两年中，我真的不知道自己到底在干嘛。” 但是有一件事情，也就是他仍然从事农业的一个重要原因，是因为他热爱这门生意：寻找客户，自己谋生。 Crawford说，将农业作为一门生意，这也许是青年农民门必须重点学习的部分。这也是他鼓励年轻的学徒们来到他的农场工作的原因。（过去多年来，他已经有200多位学徒了。） 理想是伟大的，Crawford告诉学徒们，“但如果你们要坚持下去，并以农业为生，你们必须意识到它的商业方面事宜：钱，管理钱，以及借贷，所有的这些业务，是一名商业人士不得不做的。而你们必须接受它，学着喜爱它，至少让自己在这些方面比较擅长。” Crawford说，这可能意味着妥协。可能你需要燃烧更多的化石燃料，为了让你的蔬菜能运输到城市，而那里的人们愿意支付更高的价格。 “没关系”Crawford说。做出权衡，但需要抓住什么是最重要的——这就是成长的全部。 全文完。温控花房2011.12.13翻译。 |
|
|
