I DRINK ON THE JOB - THE BLOG

Posts Tagged ‘organic’

Living the Dream – the New Farmer

February 20th, 2011 • No Comments

This was a fun interview I did at the Taste of Atlanta in 2010 with a great lady – Belinda Wernau, one of the owners of Little Red Hen Farm Belinda is part of the renaissance of farming as more than just a way of life, but a philosophical “back to nature” movement. Belinda has a full-time job outside of farming in a technical industry as a chemical engineer and she has 4 kids to raise as well. Somehow she balances her life and provides an idyllic setting for raising chickens for their meat and eggs and she has become financially successful at it, beating her financial expectations by becoming profitable in under 3 years.

Enjoy the video, it’s enlightening. Is working on a farm really living the dream? If you come away with a more realistic understanding of the ups and downs of running a small farm, then this post was successful. It’s OK to romanticize leaving your job and having a better, simpler life in balance with nature, but that’s probably not going to happen for you (or anyone for that matter!). There is a satisfaction to working with your hands and to producing something tangible that people can appreciate. In a world where 90% of people work indoors for over 40 hours a week, sitting in front of a computer, checking email, meetings, cell phones, etc. appreciating the realness of an animal being raised and the associated pitfalls of nature seems to resonate with many. Personally, I’d rather just enjoy the fruits of this labor, but if you have a hankering for going all the way, talk to a farmer – you’ll be surprised what you might discover!

Cheers!

Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler