Journal Entry For
Project 3 - Interviews
Anthropologist and Food Sustainability Professor — also worked with food co-ops
OUR CO-OP:
Return to more small farms — prevent social tensions and environmental degradation
more indigenous/organic farms
farmworkers are farmers themselves — cultivate 1/2 acres of land
Just need a single tractor/share that
Farmers have small plots of land that they cultivate themselves and then share more capital investment
Microdwellings are really small — bigger center community kitchen/garage for shared materials
Integrate community
Have opportunities for routine for those on autistic spectrum
Tourism with tech workers? Educate and perform activities together
Questions:
- What do you think is the biggest issue farmworkers are facing currently in terms of living conditions?
- No ownership over land ⇨Give ownership to farmers
- paying for very intense labor- out of work at any moment
- What do you think the biggest issue will be in 25 years from now?
- Why do you think these issues have not been addressed adequately as of now?
- What has your experience with food co-ops been so far? What do you see as the biggest benefits and challenges?
- Collectivizing actions and resources
- Lowers costs
- More confidence to do that work
- Challenges
- Having access to resources — the capital (where to find tools for farming)
- knowledge (where to find things)
- Non-native English speakers have issues integrating/finding
- Many organizations might help
- National Farmers Bureau — all help with integrating farmers (esp of color)
- Issues of cultural differences, distribution of equity
- systems of equity
- Benefits
- allow people to do more than one could do individually
- sense of community — connection to the work — reduce tensions that led to shootings/suicides
- How effective/implementable do you think a mixed neighborhood of socioeconomic classes would be in Half Moon Bay combining both farmworkers and those in the tech industry?
- In what ways do you see sustainability on farms improving over the next 25 years? Where is there still room to grow?
- a lot of people talking about issues with industrial agriculture
- Bring education to general public
- Agriculture in urban spaces
- Help farmworkers/farmers transition to more organic practices
- Large corporations, government against these trends - the farm guild
- Two movements
- Growing organic movement: how to make it to a large scale?
- Against the above movement
- Difficult to achieve all organic farm in 2050
- In your opinion, what are some of the most prevalent/groundbreaking upcoming technologies in food sustainability?
- don’t always need new technologies
- just need people farming
- layering plants?
- Things that have been forgotten — practices not technology
- Highlighting regenerative agriculture
- agro-ecology
- Focusing on soil health
- How much minerals in soil? nitrogen/calcium etc
- Record-keeping systems (App)
- Certification/keep track of past years
- Research more: the user interface of the current ones is worse
- Alternatives to industrial agriculture:
- Has longevity
- Work/give people a livable income that lasts
- If people see that it works — more expansion opportunities
- National Young Farmers Coalition
- Make farming easier for younger generation to go into — eliminate student debt for farming?
- Sustainable Economies Law Center
- National Farm Bureau
- Economic/social longevity
- Housing: Overall affect positively
- affecting so many people: Not only suppliers but also customers
- Consumer market
- Health
- Emotional well being