Name of magazine : Psychology Today
Date : October 2015
(Agri)culture Shock
THINK
THE FARM TO TABLE MOVEMENT IS HOT? THE IVY-LEAGUE-TO-FARM MOVEMENT IS EVEN
HOTTER ALTHOUGH IT OFTEN TAKES TIME FOR PARENTS TO WARM TO THE IDEA.
When
people ask Robin Apton what her two sons do? She happily tells them that one is
a lawyer and one is an organic farmer. "They're all intrigued by the
farmer." she says "Nobody asks me anything about the attorney?”
But
when Max Apton initially announced that he had quit his job in journalism to
farm in Hawaii, then in Vermont, now in an Exurb of New York she didn't speak
to him for two weeks. And that was after Robin "finally stopped crying on
the kitchen floor," she now admits. Her emotional response had more to do
with the fact that he was moving far away than with what he was planning to do
there, but she was plenty concerned about that too: "To be perfectly
honest, I was just hoping he wasn't going to Hawaii to learn how to grow
pot."
Parents
often respond with surprise, confusion, and a lot of skepticism. After all,
many have been hyper involved in their kids' schooling for a long time and
nurtured entirely different dreams of their success.
It's
just that the values they often instilled-independent thinking, creativity,
passion, commitment to others-are playing out in a way they never expected.
Once they get over the shock, they often come through with support.
Apton
was converted when she visited her son in Hawaii and then on a farm in Vermont
and saw both his happiness and his deep commitment to the work. "This is
someone who grew up in a very nice home in Westchester county," says
Apton, herself an Ivy League graduate. "I was like, 'wow, you're living in a trailer with no electricity. You must really
want to be learning what you're learning.' "
Max,
a University of Wisconsin grad, is now field manager at Stone Barns center for
food and agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York, the epicenter of the
farm-to-table movement in the east.
For
many parents, the initial reaction stems from fear of the unknown. Without
agriculture in their past-or with it at least a few generations removed-the
typical concern for a child's well-being is refracted through traditional
notions of farming: it's risky, physically demanding, and not notably lucrative
or socially respected, although that is changing.
"It's
not the easiest job in the world to make a living at," says Jacqueline
Allen, whose daughter Danielle has farmed for 13 years. When it became clear
that Danielle was set on her career path, Jacqueline mostly just wondered how
it was going to work. "I didn't have farming in my background, and I
didn't know anybody who was a farmer," says Allen, who spent three decades
in corporate marketing. "This is all new territory."
Danielle,
who grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut, sees the same attitude in the parents of
friends and of the apprentices she hires. "They're not openly
disapproving, they just don't totally understand."
Other
parents fear exactly what they know all too well. Leah Penniman owns soul fire
farm with her husband, Jonah vitale-wolff, in Upstate Grafton, New York, where
they use the land as a vessel for social change by bringing diverse communities
together.
Vocabulary
1.
Plenty = Cukup
2.
Concerned = Prihatin
3.
Skepticism = Keraguan
4.
Nurtured = Dipelihara
5.
Involved = Terlibat
6.
Values = Nilai-nilai
7.
Instilled = Menanamkan
8.
Passion = Gairah
9.
Coverted = Mengubah
10.
Initial = Awal
11.
Concern = Perhatian
12.
Refracted = Membiaskan
13.
Risky = Beresiko
14.
Incrative = Menguntungkan
15.
Disapproving = Yang tidak menyetujui
16.
Soul = Jiwa
17.
Vessel = Kapal
18.
Diverse = Berbeda
19.
Apprentices = Magang
20.
Hires = Karyawan
