“It’s amazing how many [parents] are supportive of their son or daughter [starting small-scale, organic farms], whereas 10 or 15 years ago they would have said, ‘What! Agriculture?’ They would have said, ‘You need to go into law or medicine!’ ”
Ian Merwin, Department of Horticulture professor, in On tiny plots, a new generation of farmers emerges in USA TODAY, July 13, 2009.
The article details the surge in interest among college-educated young adults in starting small-scale organic farms: “For these new farmers, going back to the land isn’t a rejection of conventional society, but an embrace of growing crops and raising animals for market as an honorable, important career choice — one that’s been waning since 1935, when the U.S. farms peaked at 6.8 million.”