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Jeff Webster is a member of the Sierra Club National Agriculture Committee living in Minnesota
 Originally from Rochester, Minnesota, my wife Judy and I chose to move to the country in 1978. We live in a renovated old country store on a "farm" but are not farmers. We love it out here. Our business is advertising Marketing for many companies here in the Midwest. We even have a client in Dijon France. Virtually all of our neighbors are family farmers. We do, however, have confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) production of pigs, dairy and poultry in the neighborhood.
Before heading to the country, I worked at Idaho State University doing administration and some teaching. I liked the life style there - rafting, climbing, backpacking, sailing and other outdoor activities. During the first Earth Day in Idaho two friends and I decided to start a Sierra Club Group in Pocatello. It was very successful. We fought the Wilderness Wars back then and won a lot of battles. I helped put together The Northern Rockies Chapter as well.
During the nearly three decades we have lived here we have seen 50% of our neighbors go bust and quit. These were all family farmers. Four years ago I decided that I had to do something about the ravaging of rural America and became more active in the Club. In 2002 I was
appointed to the Sierra Club National Agriculture Committee to help stop the takeover of rural America by corporate interests. I dislike what it is doing to our rural schools, churches, towns, families.
When we first moved here, our area rural churches typically had 60-120 people any given Sunday morning. Today attendance is only between fifteen and twenty. Farm homes are crumbling from lack of money for repairs. Store fronts of small town shops are shuttered. Schools are closing and consolidating because of lack of students and funding.
My grandparents were dairy farmers on sixty acres of land just fifteen miles from here. They milked twenty cows and sent two kids through college by the income they made off those sixty acres. Rural America
was healthy then. The rivers were clean and we kids could go for a swim
and not worry about mercury or herbicide poisoning. A lot of awful
things have happened since then and I'm simply trying to do what I can to stop and reverse it.
We produce most of our own food organically. In fact, with our natural, organic methods we produce way too much, giving a lot of it to folks who like the way it tastes! For example, we take several bags of tomatoes and corn, when it is in season, to the local retirement home. It's fun for them and us and they know where it comes from. Flowers and herbs keep us busy as well. One of the most successful crops Judy and I grow is potatoes, in three different varieties. One is Yukon Gold, a light yellow early potato. The other two are Kennebic and Irish
Cobbler, storing potatoes that go into the root cellar.
I decided that trying to make a difference in these matters is
something I should do for our planet and for all the life that inhabits it. I'm just one small voice in the wilderness but a lot of voices become a choir. By choosing to live simply and growing much of our own food, Judy and I believe we can help to make a difference.
Photo: Judy shows off some of her prized Yukon Gold potatoes in their organic garden. Photo courtesy Jeff Webster.
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