The time for veneration of the small farmer is now.

Many say we love our local farmer and heap loads of love on them at the farmers market on Saturdays. Some even go further and sign up for that CSA box to commit to their local family farm.

The support is needed and cherished. How many of these same upper middle class would folks encourage their teenagers to even delay our year university and give a sustainable agriculture internship a try? A portion would, and I know some who have. But the time has come for more than a break from studies and a cultural experience, regenerative farming must be recognized as the highly rewarding career choice that it is.

We need to have enough honest, living food, capable of feeding the planet. We need enough farmers whose primary tenet is nourishing the soil, that our land is once again storing water and sequestering carbon. On the North American continent, we need to once again have herds of large ruminants that you can see for days.

For this to happen, the next generation needs to see, know, and believe that regenerative agriculture is a viable opportunity worth pursuing, and that they are able to.