Surviving

It can be called changing with the times, or survival instinct, but call it what you will, many farmers have realized in order to save their livelihood they need to work towards sustainability. Often times you will hear them called the "new American farmer", farmers who respect the land, their community and those that work for them. These values though are not new to the American farmer. Farmers on family farms across the nation have a long history of embracing these values and instilling them in not only their descendants but their farm workers as well. In keeping with this, farmers working sustainable farms put into practice a concern and responsibility for the environment, the animals in their care, and the communities they live in. They have learned to diversify, having a variety of crops and livestock in the same farming operation. Which in actuality was a common practice centuries before the onset of technology. So in reality sustainability is not a new concept in its entirety, it is only a revisiting and re-implementing of an age old work ethic. The American farmer remains a champion and steward of the land and its resources.