What is a “Real” job? do you have to be employed by someone else? Have health benefits? Make a large salary?
I have heard the question posed to farmers (others and ourselves!) “so what is your real job?” as if farming is just a hobby for us small folks.
I have to admit, I bristle when I hear this question posed to farmers or anyone who is truly enjoying what they are doing. it makes me want to grab a big pitcher of water and pour it right down the nose of this hoity-toity person who seems to think that enjoying ones job means it’s not “real” or that farming or being a full-time parent isn’t “real”.
I have a full time job off-farm to guarantee our bills paid each month. I’d rather be farming full time.
Jason has two full-time jobs: Farming and being the main parent raising our children. Most days, those two jobs blend reasonably well together.
Most people would look as us and say that I have the “real” job and that Jason’s not participating in supporting our family because he doesn’t bring home much if any income. that is so not true.
So in short, there aren’t endeavors that cannot be classified as a “Real” job. It’s just that not all jobs pay in cash all the time.
I was listening to Chicken Thistle Farm’s podcast and they were talking about their jobs vs. their farming. For them, they like their jobs and they don’t want to farm full time. For them, farming is fun, pays for it’s own costs at a minimum and not something they want to do as more than part-time.
For Jason and I, we want to both farm full-time. We think we can make our farm pay us a reasonable salary every year. While there are jobs out there that we can and do enjoy, they aren’t our true calling for our lives. The challenge for us is how to we get from point A (Margaret working off-farm, farm paying minimally if at all) to Point B where we don’t have to work off-farm and we are earning a comfortable salary.
We’ve had many naysayers on our goal. We’ve also had many people give us their full support saying “we know you can find a way to do it.”
Food is important. Someone has to grow it somewhere. Why not us? Here? Now? And since when does that mean we can’t live comfortable lives?
