MAS Context




	3 \| WORK FALL 09 FARMER'S WORK Architect Kathryn Clarke Albright's interest in a farmer’s work arose from studying farmers markets as civic institutions and the types of markets in America. Conversation with many vendors revealed the choice to farm and the pleasures that the demanding work provides. Their daily ritual is accompanied by sweet surprises. Their cherished independence is complemented with camaraderie at the market. Their children benefit from a sense of community at the market. Conversations transform into lasting relationships. -> Text -> Quotes -> Images Contents 01. WORK REVIEW 02. PUBLICS WORKS 03. ISOLATED BUILDINGS 04. WAYFINDING 05. LAYOFF MOVEON 06. MONDRAGON 07. WORKPLACE 08. A CITY AT WORK 09. EMPTY 10. FARMER'S WORK DOWNLOAD ISSUE 3 ORDER A COPY OF ISSUE 3		FARMER'S WORK KATHRYN CLARKE ALBRIGHT It is universally accepted that work is labor and requires exerting purposeful effort. Most farmers I know would agree that whether plowing a field, harvesting a crop, or selling the bounty, all require work to some degree. The gains resulting from a farmer’s work are measurable by the sustenance provided and monies earned. However, there are by-products and/or pleasures resulting from most kinds of work that have value beyond the anticipated. In the situation of farmers’ work there are the purposeful pleasurable outcomes as well as unanticipated joyous ones. Over the past two centuries of Amercia’s existence, agricultural labor efficiency has increased from 27.5 acres per worker in 1890 to 740 acres per worker in 1990. Mechanized farm equipment has reduced the time it takes to tend the fields; fertilizers and pesticides require time to apply but increase yields per acre. And a farmer’s work continues to change and evolve as advancement in science and technologies alters a farmer’s work on large and small farms alike. Due to innovations and other forces there are structural changes in farming that have altered the way the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] assesses farming today. Farms across America have dwindled since their peak at 6.8 million in 1935, although there are more mouths to feed. Today the USDA estimates there are over 2.1 million farms in America with 90 percent family owned and operated. However, since 2002 the number of small farms has increased 2 percent per year although the number of acres that comprise small farms has decreased. Until 2002 the USDA defined a small farm as consisting of 200 acres or less; today it considers under 50 acres to be a small farm. Between 1982 and 2002 the number of farms with fewer than 50 acres increased by 17 percent. According to the USDA 2007 Census, the number of small farms grew in 39 states, and in 21 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, increased over 5 percent. Notably, the farmers who sell at Blacksburg Farmers Market in southwest Virginia cultivate between 3 to 8 acres for their organic produce that garners in suffi cent income. Many of the farmers I have met over the past decade have choosen farming as a way of life for many reasons. Tenley Weaver of Full Circle Organic Farm located in Floyd, Virginia offers this encompassing view. “The farmers I know are very educated people, most of them have college degrees. They have had other professions and have many other options besides farming. “We feel drawn to grow food. It is an incredible intellectual, physical, and emotional challenge of producing a crop. It is really a deep broad field, that has to do with the sowing of the crop at least as much as to do with the selling of the crop. It is a whole way life.” Her partner, Dennis Dove, who once taught in the College of Agriculture at Virginia Tech, concurs about the knowledge required to be a successful farmer, and often shares his wisdom about growing heirloom tomatoes and organic practices at local farmers markets, as well as regional agricultural events. While it requires physical labor and lots of it, farming offers the capacity to live one’s beliefs in a direct way and alters how each farmer views their work. The independence it affords is often cited as a primary benefit, yet family is a strong factor. Lauren Cooper of Greenstar Farm in Blacskburg, Virginia sums it up; “my husband [Andrew Schenker] and I choose organic farming as a way of life because we are interested in creating a livelihood for ourselves that didn’t clash with our ideals. We wanted to be able to create for ourselves a way to earn an income on our terms and to be able to feel good about how our lifstyle affected the environment. Our farm is intended to be a sanctuary for people and wildlife as well as a livelihood.” It is good news that the number of small farms are gradually on the rise and, even better, the number of farmers markets in America has nearly tripled from 1,755 in 1994 to 4,600 in 2008, and with an unofficial count of over 4,800 in 2009. This is important to the economic and ecological vitality of local communities in the face of globalization due to technological advances. At least two of the new digital technologies, specifically websites and email enabled by the Internet, have increased even the smallest farmer’s reach of distribution and farmers markets capacity to attract patrons. There is also an increase in the heightened awareness of the nutritional benefits of eating organic food as well as fresh food that has traveled less than 100 miles from farm to table. This renaissance in farmers markets and small farms has brought additional meaning and value particular to each farmer. Fulfillment in a season’s work can be found in ritual coupled with surprise, independence paired with camaraderie, raising children with a sense of community and conversations that become relationships. Farming is a chosen way of life. In 2007, 22 percent of all U. S. farms have been in production 10 years or less. Ritual & Surprise The planning and execution of the repetitive actions that are inherent in farming suggest there would be predictability of the outcome and the surprise of unanticipated results would be limited. Some disruptions in daily routine can be offset through regular attention to maintenance of things such as machinery to avoid breakdowns that cause delays. And although there are known seasonal weather patterns, Mother Nature is full of unpredictability that tests a farmer’s ability to anticipate and compensate for a multitude of variables. Other surprises defy any relation to the routine or rituals of farming. The routine of work on the farm spills over to farmers markets where the ritual of setting-up of each stall each time involves particular placement of the bounty of a day’s harvest, and yet when the patrons arrive to shop there is a sense of surprise and joy in the air. Alice Waters, acclaimed chef of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California asserts that “there are times of the year when we can hardly wait to go to the farmers market, in anticipation of the treasures we will find there.” Independence & Camaraderie The repetitive interaction among vendors selling at farmers markets offers camaraderie that serves to counter balance the hours spent alone in the fields on the farm. For farmers independence is treasured autonomy that is often viewed as one’s perceived control over the outcome of one’s work. Nonethless, self-reliance has a partner in camaraderie. Both farmers and patrons value the solidarity that gathering on a regular basis provides. Most share appreciation of the work involved in producing the goods they sell, some commiserate about various difficulties entailed in farming, and others exchange stories of recent travels or their children’s achievements. There is always a tale to tell and someone to listen. The camaraderie of social interactions for common purpose allows for casual conversations over time to evolve into lasting relationships. Camaraderie between vendors and patrons at the market fills many needs that the autonomy of independence cannot. The camaraderie leads to a sense of community among diverse groups of people who share an interest in fresh, local food and handmade goods. Children & Community For many the choice to farm centers on family. The rituals of farming find resonance with the daily activities of raising a family, both require performing particular activities daily, weekly, and seasonally wthout fail. Phil Mosser observes, “watching my children eat and love eveything that we raise is an incredible experience and makes all the hard work seem small.” Phil ‘retired’ from 20 years as a builder in Virginia Beach for the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors while providing for his family. Farmers often bring their children to the market and they help in the selling of the goods. For some who home-school their children, the market offers necessary opportunities for socializing. The relationship among children, whether farmer’s, vendor’s or patron’s is typical for most public settings, yet many patrons develop special bonds with children of vendors and bring them gifts annually on their birthdays. Like many public gatherings, coming to the market provides children with a better understanding of customs of the society in which they live. Conversations & Relationships Appreciation between vendor and market patron usually begins with conversation about the food being purchased. The exchanged words convey a mutual rapport. There is a sense of companionship among patrons and farmers although each has very different daily routines. Farmers who sell at farmers markets know their customers by first name, know a bit of their lives and receive gifts from them. Some patrons visit the vendors farms. “In contrast to the anonymity of food bought from a food conglomerate, farmers and others marketing local food should not take for granted the appeal of “food with a face”-- food that has a unique and important story behind its creation.” UC Davis professor and environmental psychologist Robert Sommer observed though years of research that shoppers have up to seven times more social interactions at a farmers market as they do in a supermarket. For most people, the plethora of ways to communicate via the Internet or cell phone has not replaced the worthiness of face-to-face conversations.