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| Editor’s
NOTE:
We serve a diverse audience of readers engaged
in regenerative, organic and sustainable agriculture
at many levels for many reasons. We want to hear
from you about the issues that are important to
your life and work, and your vision for agriculture
that builds a strong future.
We run selected comments from readers in this
space. Please tell us who you are, with name,
address and phone number for verification. Sending
correspondence to us conveys a right to us to
publish it as is, or in a form edited for length
and/or style. Opinions expressed in this space
do not necessarily represent the perspective of
The New Farm® or The Rodale Institute®.
If you have something important to say about
agriculture in a sustainable global food system,
please -- speak
to us.
NF
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Please pass along my deepest support for the magazine's international
on-site reporting storylines.
As a past writer and current reader, these are the stories
which I think stand out beyond the other great articles being
published. These stories are so personal and intimate; their
words go beyond the methodology and science of farming practices,
beyond even the arguments for organic or conventional. The
storylines capture farming at its deepest, rawest most pure
state—man and woman trying to create a sacred space
for themselves and community members, using their hands and
minds to interact with nature, to become creative partners
with the surrounding landscape and elements. The stories tell
us about the farm and what the land is producing, but, beyond
that, what interests me most are the struggles and hopes and
joys that each farmer goes through as they work with the land
to create a nourishing, sustaining vision and reality. It
is a snapshot into the farmer as humble warrior, and his or
her quotes are full of honesty and emotion. They are full
of life and I hear them spoken directly to me, farmer to farmer,
blessing me with advice, knowledge, secrets, myths and wisdom.
I first came across newfarm.org while researching different
organic farms in Southeast Asia, as I was planning a backpacking
trip through Thailand and Laos. The articles written by Jason
Witmer (Jason's
Organic Global Odyssey) granted me access to communities
of peoples that I would have undoubtedly been unable to find
without his direction. I am in deep gratitude for his articles
and to newfarm.org for publishing those articles. I followed
his footsteps more than once and visited the Santi-Asoke Buddhist
communities as well as Jo Jondai at his Pun Pun Sustainable
Farming & Seed Saving Center. At each stop I was awarded
invaluable treasures. But beyond the trip itself, it was the
ripples that have been such tremendous gifts. Later, while
traveling through the Middle East, I had the desire to share
the stories that I was living and hearing, stories that were
not being told in the mainstream media, about men and women
that had no other way to voice their tales to an international
audience. Newfarm.org granted me the opportunity to step into
and share my own journey with your audience, and I have the
deepest gratitude for the chance.
Traveling and writing Vine
and Fig Tree: Restoring Agriculture in the Holy Land opened
up untold gates and pathways and dimensions for me, helping
me craft my future, which now will be forever rooted in Israel.
I was able to make deep connections with the farmers I worked
and lived by, as well as with the land that hosted me. The
farmers were deeply grateful for the chance to express their
thoughts and share their experiences. The readers, as well,
at least the handful that emailed me, were full of surprise
and excitement.
There are so many young adults getting involved with agriculture,
deeply connected with the organic movement, filled with curiosity
and wonder. To return to the land becomes a passion to them,
a lifestyle more than an economic pursuit. Newfar.org's international
on-site reporting speaks directly to these people, attracts
them as readers and supports them as farmers. They will become
your next writers. They will visit the farms being written
about. They will find inspiration in the stories and go out
on their own with new confidence. Amidst all the valuable
stories in the magazine, these are the most powerful and these
are the ones speaking to the next generation of farmers.
I look forward to reading many more articles written by eager,
charismatic writers, bringing forth an old scene and making
it refreshing, reminding us of the real heroic stories behind
the farming lifestyle.
Thank you,
Yigal Deutscher
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