“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. ... In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”
― John Lubbock, The Beauties of Nature and the Wonders of the World We Live in

“Have you heard of the illness hysteria siberiana? Try to imagine this: You're a farmer, living all alone on the Siberian tundra. Day after day you plow your fields. As far as the eye can see, nothing. To the north, the horizon, to the east, the horizon, to the south, to the west, more of the same. Every morning, when the sun rises in the east, you go out to work in your fields. When it's directly overhead, you take a break for lunch. When it sinks in the west, you go home to sleep. And then one day, something inside you dies. Day after day you watch the sun rise in the east, pass across the sky, then sink in the west, and something breaks inside you and dies. You toss your plow aside and, your head completely empty of thought, begin walking toward the west. Heading toward a land that lies west of the sun. Like someone, possessed, you walk on, day after day, not eating or drinking, until you collapse on the ground and die. That's hysteria siberiana.”
― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

“Every job from the heart is, ultimately, of equal value. The nurse injects the syringe; the writer slides the pen; the farmer plows the dirt; the comedian draws the laughter. Monetary income is the perfect deceiver of a man's true worth.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”
― Paul Newman

“Pick a leader who will keep jobs in your country by offering companies incentives to hire only within their borders, not one who allows corporations to outsource jobs for cheaper labor when there is a national employment crisis. Choose a leader who will invest in building bridges, not walls. Books, not weapons. Morality, not corruption. Intellectualism and wisdom, not ignorance. Stability, not fear and terror. Peace, not chaos. Love, not hate. Convergence, not segregation. Tolerance, not discrimination. Fairness, not hypocrisy. Substance, not superficiality. Character, not immaturity. Transparency, not secrecy. Justice, not lawlessness. Environmental improvement and preservation, not destruction. Truth, not lies.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Pick a leader who will not only bail out banks and airlines, but also families from losing their homes -- or jobs due to their companies moving to other countries. Pick a leader who will fund schools, not limit spending on education and allow libraries to close. Pick a leader who chooses diplomacy over war. An honest broker in foreign relations. A leader with integrity, one who says what they mean, keeps their word and does not lie to their people. Pick a leader who is strong and confident, yet humble. Intelligent, but not sly. A leader who encourages diversity, not racism. One who understands the needs of the farmer, the teacher, the doctor, and the environmentalist -- not only the banker, the oil tycoon, the weapons developer, or the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyist.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Pick a leader who is strong and confident, yet humble. Intelligent, but not sly. A leader who encourages diversity, not racism. One who understands the needs of the farmer, the teacher, the welder, the doctor, and the environmentalist -- not only the banker, the oil tycoon, the weapons developer, or the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyist.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“A farmer friend of mine told me recently about a busload of middle school children who came to his farm for a tour. The first two boys off the bus asked, "Where is the salsa tree?" They thought they could go pick salsa, like apples and peaches. Oh my. What do they put on SAT tests to measure this? Does anybody care? How little can a person know about food and still make educated decisions about it? Is this knowledge going to change before they enter the voting booth? Now that's a scary thought.”
― Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

“THE ORGANIC FOODS MYTH

A few decades ago, a woman tried to sue a butter company that had printed the word 'LITE' on its product's packaging. She claimed to have gained so much weight from eating the butter, even though it was labeled as being 'LITE'. In court, the lawyer representing the butter company simply held up the container of butter and said to the judge, "My client did not lie. The container is indeed 'light in weight'. The woman lost the case.

In a marketing class in college, we were assigned this case study to show us that 'puffery' is legal. This means that you can deceptively use words with double meanings to sell a product, even though they could mislead customers into thinking your words mean something different. I am using this example to touch upon the myth of organic foods. If I was a lawyer representing a company that had labeled its oranges as being organic, and a man was suing my client because he found out that the oranges were being sprayed with toxins, my defense opening statement would be very simple: "If it's not plastic or metallic, it's organic."

Most products labeled as being organic are not really organic. This is the truth. You pay premium prices for products you think are grown without chemicals, but most products are. If an apple is labeled as being organic, it could mean two things. Either the apple tree itself is free from chemicals, or just the soil. One or the other, but rarely both. The truth is, the word 'organic' can mean many things, and taking a farmer to court would be difficult if you found out his fruits were indeed sprayed with pesticides. After all, all organisms on earth are scientifically labeled as being organic, unless they are made of plastic or metal. The word 'organic' comes from the word 'organism', meaning something that is, or once was, living and breathing air, water and sunlight.

So, the next time you stroll through your local supermarket and see brown pears that are labeled as being organic, know that they could have been third-rate fare sourced from the last day of a weekend market, and have been re-labeled to be sold to a gullible crowd for a premium price. I have a friend who thinks that organic foods have to look beat up and deformed because the use of chemicals is what makes them look perfect and flawless. This is not true. Chemical-free foods can look perfect if grown in your backyard. If you go to jungles or forests untouched by man, you will see fruit and vegetables that look like they sprouted from trees from Heaven. So be cautious the next time you buy anything labeled as 'organic'. Unless you personally know the farmer or the company selling the products, don't trust what you read. You, me, and everything on land and sea are organic.


Suzy Kassem,
Truth Is Crying”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“A farmer is a magician who produces money from the mud.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“In addition to his other descriptions, Boaz is also a farmer. Agriculture was the 1st step toward civilizing a man. No wonder Yahweh made Adam a farmer before He made Adam a husband. (compare Ge 2:15 to Ge 2:18)
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 45”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“There are many professions, but for a woman of the soil, she may need the services of an attorney once in a lifetime. But Ruth will need a farmer 3 times a day for the rest of her life. How fortuitous: Boaz is a farmer. A woman needs a farmer (or a farmer-type) through her entire life cycle.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 71”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Here in the country, on a little farm in southern Georgia, I am building a quiet life of resistance. I am a radical peasant, and every day I take out my little hammer, and I keep building.”
― Janisse Ray, The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food

“Soil is not just a substance, soil is the soul.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“The sign in the forest said, “Closed For Repairs.” I wrote it and nailed it on a tree myself. I’m a farmer of parking lots, and I grow them like 1980s mall culture.”
― Jarod Kintz, 94,000 Wasps in a Trench Coat

“Milli Vanilli blamed it on the rain. But I’m a farmer, so I blame it on the drought.”
― Jarod Kintz, Eggs, they’re not just for breakfast

“If you really want to be a good gardener, you need to understand what is going on in your soil.”
― Jeff Lowenfels, Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

“Where was I headed? I didn't quite know. I had talent, facility, and a desire to produce-but steadily my market was diminishing. I fell back on illustrated jokes, and even here struck a snag. Tramps were no longer so funny to me as they had been. And my attitude toward the farmer had changed-I no longer wanted to depict him as a mere comic character. His life was all too often bound up with tragedy. The Populists had been right in many of the things they had said about the farmer's plight.”
― Art Young, Art Young: His Life and Times

“Most of those who do not farm treat faeces like shit.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“I talked to a farmer the other day; a man of soil and sweat and simplicity. And while he never darkened the door of a university, I quickly discovered that the wisdom wrought of soil and sweat and simplicity possessed more than adequate power to utterly transform any university whose door this man might walk through. And it was at that very moment that I found myself wanting to do nothing other than to dig in the soil of life that lay around me, sweat a lot while doing it, and forever keep my life as simple as both soil and sweat…for therein lays the greatest wisdom.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Like a farmer you should be too busy cultivating your crops to care what others think about the untidiness of your lands.”
― Curtis Tyrone Jones, Giants At Play: Finding Wisdom, Courage, And Acceptance To Encounter Your Destiny

“Everyone who has a farmer or a rancher in their family knows they live out of their pickups. Everything important can be found in the cab, including wallets, bills to pay, cattle and seed records. The console is littered with dusty little notes about things that need to be done, jotted down on whatever may be handy---food wrappers, scrap paper, or cardboard from a tool package.”
― Kristi Noem, Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland

“We are blessed in America to have such abundance. We can go to any local market to buy food, regardless of the weather conditions.”
― June Stoyer

“Among the golden fields, the farmer stands as a testament to the indomitable spirit. Their unwavering efforts, like a symphony performed in concert with the elements, resonate with the echoes of generations past and dreams for the future.”
― Shree Shambav, Life Changing Journey - 365 Inspirational Quotes - Series - I

“A lie has short legs and doesn’t run well. And as an old farmer once told me, “I wouldn’t bet on that horse.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“The road to the strawberry farm was magnificent, lined with cherry trees in full flower. Red earth, blue sky, and, in between, the shimmering movement of millions of white blossoms shaking softly in the breeze. The strawberry man was, as Angela would put it, "a thinking woman's crumpet"--- late twenties with a dark crew cut, tanned shoulders, and firm but not gaudy muscles on display in a dusty green tank top. I had a brief image of some kind of calendar: Sexy Farmers of Provence. Hello, Mr. May.”
― Elizabeth Bard, Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes

“Like the farmer who sustains himself and his family’s well being by growing the highest quality produce, fertile soil of my inner being is my utmost priority”
― Rhys Blanco, Affirmations for Glowing skin

“In the silent cloister of the self, where intentions bloom profound,
Like whispers of thoughts, soft as breezes ‘mongst leaves found.
Nurturing, they do, the seeds of purpose, ever so deep,
In this sacred communion, secrets of being, quietly they keep.

Echoes ancient, resonate through the corridor of time,
“As you sow, so shall you reap,” in rhythmic, eternal rhyme.
A truth ageless, a guiding star in the night’s deep sweep,
Teaching us, in the mind’s garden, what we sow, we’re destined to reap.

For in this fabric, woven of dreams and thoughts so bright,
Lies the landscape of our lives, bathed in inner light.
Each seed of thought, a promise, in the soul’s keep,
On this journey we traverse, sow with care, for ‘tis what we’ll reap.”
― Kevin L. Michel, The 7 Laws of Quantum Power

“If you are an aspiring honey farmer, I have a documentary you NEED to watch. It's called The Beekeeper, and it stars Jason Stratham. It is the Mission Impossible of apiculturist culture.”
― Jarod Kintz, A Memoir of Memories and Memes

“With each surge of westward movement a new community came into being. These communities devoted themselves not to marching onward but to cultivating the earth. They plowed the virgin land and put in crops, and the great Interior Valley was transformed into a garden for the imagination, the Garden of the World. The vision of this vast and constantly growing agricultural society in the interior of the continent became one of the dominant symbols of nineteenth-century American society - a collective representation, a poetic idea (as [Alexis de] Tocqueville [1805-59] noted in the early 1830s) that defined the promise of American life. The master symbol of the garden embraced a cluster of metaphors expressing fecundity, growth, increase and blissful labor in the earth, all centring about the heroic figure of the idealized frontier farmer armed with that supreme agrarian weapon, the sacred plow.”
― Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth