#mimimeetsstrangers

I met the nicest lady in the entire world yesterday at the market! 

This is Julie, and she works on Glad-To-Know-Ya Farms in Wayne County. She not only talked to me for well over a half hour, but she invited me to visit the farm whenever I’d like, and said her and her family are more than willing to answer questions. We have really similar personalities and instantly clicked. 

She falls under the Early Bloomer persona, but after college, she came back to the farm because she missed it so much. I gained a lot of insight to why younger people want to stay in farming from talking to her; I would love to explore that feeling more by creating a short documentary for the Experiential Narrative project. Her mom, dad, and brother all have different views on farming as well, and it would be incredible to talk to each of them. 

Initially I only stopped to talk to farmers who sold produce, and skipped the stands that had meats and eggs, herbs and plants, jarred goods, etc, but I’m really happy I said hi to Julie. I was going to move on because it looked like they only sold flowers, but I thought that flower farming would bring an interesting perspective to my research and I had no reason to limit it to produce (They apparently not only sell flowers, but also apples, strawberries, and cherries as well!)  

Julie is an excellent example of an educated, millennial farmer who couldn’t be happier with her life as a farmer. She not only enjoys working on the farm, but also loves educating people about farming. She is a great role model for the younger generation.