As a kid I grew up working on a dairy farm and even today, all these years later I still think that was one of the best times of my life. It wasn’t a big modernized farm factory but rather what is quaintly referred to today as a family farm where hard work was the norm and mechanization was carefully considered before implementing.

It definitely wasn’t what most people consider farms to be today with their massive amounts of modern technology used throughout all aspects of the farm, to the point it more closely resembles a factory than it does a farm. I have watched many documentaries that look at the so-called benefits of these huge businesses that gave up any pretense of being a family farm a long time ago and I wonder what we have lost in the process.

This is a question is one that apparently Chipotle is asking as well and in order to find out, as well as find ways to help bring the small American family farm back, they have launched a new initiative called The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, thought its Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant chain.

In their mission statement Chipotle says it is committed to creating a more sustainable and healthful food supply as well as trying to raise awareness concerning our food supply issues. Part of that means finding ways to help support family farmers, their communities, educators, and programs that will help teach future generations about food sustainability. They are also committed to helping farmers and ranchers who want to move to a more sustainable food supply model.

To this end Chipotle has donated over $2 million to help fund initiatives that support sustainable farming, family farming, and innovations that help innovation in the food supply.

As apart of their awareness campaign Chipotle has been getting musicians to create music videos that highlight the program’s mission. The first one was released in August 2011 with Willie Nelson doing a cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” in an animated music video that traces the move by a farmer that goes from being a family farm to a farm factory and back to a family farm.

The newest video from the foundation has Kathy O from the band the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s doing a cover of the Willie Nelson and Waylon Jenning’s hit “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” where the song is used as the backdrop in a video of three boys exploring an abandoned house.

The house turns out to have been that of a farmer who had his farm foreclosed on and the one boy realizes that what he finds isn’t all that different than his life could be like.

via Fast Company

Chipotle shows its support for the small American farmer with new project is a post from: The Inquisitr

Did you know that anywhere from 25% to 30% of veterans of the so-called war in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere stand a good chance of being homeless at some point after returning home from serving their country?

That was just on of the little tidbits of information that I found out from the video of Colin; a multi-tour highly decorated vet, and Karen Archipley as they gave a presentation at the Fast Company’s Most Creative People event, on their program that helps veterans by training them in hydroponics and other sustainable farming techniques.

“They were trained to use rifles and coordinate air strikes, not operate businesses,” says Colin, himself a decorated Marine sergeant, “but we tap into the leadership skills they’ve obtained in the military.” Together the Archipleys are planting seeds of future occupations for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Archipleys received a standing ovation from those in attendance.

Couple seeks to help veterans to go from fighting to farming is a post from: The Inquisitr

Much of the farming we see being done these days is mega-corporate type farms with abundant use of chemicals to increase produce yields. It isn’t very often these days that you see family farms of a few thousand acres. This was the type of farm I was use to growing up near and working on every summer and sometimes during the winters.

One of the problems with the mega-corporate farms though is there is more interest in bigger yields using chemical fertilizers rather than the tried and true methods of crop rotations as practiced by the smaller family farms and a growing number of organic farms. As we see the growing effects of mega farm factories on our farming landscape the USDA has decided to grant new aids to the Organic Trade Association in order to “further enhance organic farming”.

This new initiative has gotten further boosting from the Obama in the form of $50 million to help farmers switch to more organic methods of farming. these funds will support previously non-organic farmers as they learn new skill sets that include natural nutrient management, crop rotation and pesticide-free pest control.

The big problem with the new program though is its narrow window of opportunity for farmers to take advantage of the project. All applications must be in place before May 29th. Even with such a tight timeframe it is nice to see that the government sees the validity of organic farming as a viable alternative to farm factories that have predominated our farming landscape for too many years.

hat tip to Treehugger

$50 million to go organic is a post from: The Inquisitr