As a follow-up to Letters to a Young Farmer, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture recently released two short films on the importance of helping young farmers succeed.
The first film features farmer Arian Rivera, who left his day job in New York City to farm full-time. The second video features Bill McKibben, Karen Washington, and Dan Barber, who promote the book as both a thank you to hard-working farmers and as a blueprint for the future of 21st century farming.
Letters to a Young Farmer, Stone Barns Center’s first book, is a compilation of essays and letters from some of the biggest leaders in the food system. Thirty-six leaders contributed to the book, including Barbara Kingsolver, Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Dan Barber, Temple Grandin, Wendell Berry, Rick Bayless, Marion Nestle, and Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg.
Stone Barns Center is planning to host several salon-style events to discuss the book and its themes, including sessions at Slow Food Nations, the Texas Book Festival, and the Virginia Festival of the Book.
Stone Barns Center is a nonprofit sustainable agriculture organization that aims to create an inclusive food system that promotes health and sustainability. The Center trains farmers from all backgrounds, educates citizens, and hosts educational conferences such as the Summer Institute for High School Students and a two-day Poultry School conference.
In a recent interview with Food Tank, Jill Isenbarger, CEO of Stone Barns Center, said farming is a bipartisan issue that affects our society as a whole. “Young farmers need encouragement because our society doesn’t value them the way they should be valued.”
