2012

Title: The New Face of Farming
Publication: Shamless
Date: January 20, 2012
Link: http://shamelessmag.com/stories/2012/01/new-face-farming/1/
Excerpt:  Leave it to young people to face these questions head on. Despite an aging farmer population and uncertain finances, there is a small but steadily growing number of young farmers who have the courage, dedication, passion and ingenuity to turn conventional farming on its head and are making a go at it in new and exciting ways. Who are they and how are they doing it?

Today’s new farmers include a diverse body of young people ranging from new immigrants, urbanites, scholars and those coming to farming from a previously established career. Of these new farmers, a growing proportion is made up of young women. Most of them are digging into their work for different reasons and in different ways than their predecessors. A survey taken by FarmStart, an Ontario-based organization dedicated to helping people pursue careers in agriculture, found that 68% of its interns grew up in the suburbs or city and 95% had at least some post-secondary education. Intention, rather than necessity, appears to drive these young people to what is still seen as an unusual career choice.