Growing a Farmer Part I

Summary of the First Eight Chapters

The book Growing a Farmer is a story of a farm. The author Kurt Timmermeister talks about his journey from the city life as a restaurant owner in Downtown Seattle to the present countryside life as a farmer on Vashon Island. The book describes where our food comes from, what goes into producing it and how it was traditionally prepared as Timmermeister expected. Besides, it also evokes me thinking of the relationship between human and nature. Because of the Industrial Revolutions and the Technology Revolution, humans become increasingly ambitious, invading and changing the natural environment and setting rules to govern the nature. On the one hand, it improves peoples’ lives with more knowledge, convenience, and safety. On the other hand, it eliminates the goodness nature provides us and forces us to give up traditions, embracing a standard and homogeneous city life. In the following paragraphs, I am going to talk about the two topics the author brings up that interest me a lot.

Bees

In Chapter Three Bee, Timmermeister describes the process of raising bees and collecting honey in precise details. It took years for him to successfully go through the whole life cycle of bee-raising, from preparing hives, importing bees, feeding bees, and collecting honey. The exciting and unique section reminds me of the story my mum once told me, so I feel intimately connected to the life the author leads. My grandparents were born farmers, and they spent most of the time on the farm in their lives. When my mum was young, my grandpa raised bees for years in his front yard. My mum has never described me the details of raising bees as the author does, but one thing my mum repeatedly mentioned was how happy she was when she could use bread to deplete the honey at the bottom of the huge jar after my grandpa sold out all the honey at the end of each fall. Therefore, I can truly understand the pleasure the author can get from his life with bees. However, what my grandparents did was exactly opposite to the author; they made their lives directly toward the city, leaving their house, land, and the tranquil lifestyle all behind.

Raw Milk

I love milk and all its byproducts such as yogurt, butter, and cheese. In Chapter Eight Raw Milk, Timmermeister not only introduces us the technical process and biological reaction of making raw milk, yogurt, butter, and cheese but also starts a discussion about the regulations for foods in general. In the United States, the production of milk is governed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the sale of raw milk is a pretty controversial issue in most of the states. In fact, raw milk is both healthy and hazardous to peoples’ health, just like most of the other foods. As long as the harmful bacteria in the raw milk are eliminated, raw milk a tasty, creamy, and healthy drink. However, USDA bans raw milk and requires pasteurization of raw milk only because it kills all bacteria and saves people from the risk of death. Indeed, the law makes the lives of regulators easier and makes the public consumers safer, but it at the same time reduces the goodness nature provides us. I think this is a topic that is worthy of discussion since similar situations happen very often in other industries as well.

Conclusion

Growing a Farmer is an excellent book that teaches me new knowledge about agriculture, reminds me of my previous experience on the farm, and encourages me to think more deeply and broadly about our city life. I like this book and look forward to reading the following sections.