“Meet a Family That’s Betting the Farm on a Wild Idea. Literally." Article Reflection No. 107 (8/19/2024)
- Mary
- Aug 19, 2024
- 2 min read
Reflection:
In the article “Meet a Family That’s Betting the Farm on a Wild Idea. Literally.,” journalist Cara Buckley shares the story of the Faaborg family, who previously raised thousands of hogs on their Iowa farm but are now shifting gears to grow mushrooms instead. After participating in big-industry agriculture for decades, the Faaborgs were able to begin this transition through the help of an organization called Transfarmation Project, which provided the money necessary to change a former hog barn into a mushroom one as well as a grant for a pilot mushroom farming project, Buckley writes. However, as the article describes, the transition was not simple: though the Faaborgs had initially decided to join CAFO due to the appealing money given their financial struggles at the time, the money from the hogs were running low, according to the article. In addition, the article emphasizes how, as big agriculture expanded, the number of small farms in Iowa decreased and rural regions were suffering from subsequent side effects like water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions.
This article is so interesting because it provides an example of how rural communities can stand up against these big, powerful agricultural industries. To be honest, it’s hard to believe that things have gotten this bad for these rural farmers that they feel rather obligated to switch gears like this. In my AP Human Geography class last year, we saw the Food Inc. documentaries where we learned about how strong these large agricultural industries are and how domineering they can be when it comes to contracts, etc. with the farmers. That’s so unfair for those farmers. Why does this seem like a perpetual cycle? I feel like example(s) like the Faaborgs’ story is a temporary halt in that perpetual cycle; in a way, kind of like a pebble that’s thrown into the gears of a well-oiled machine.
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