17 Examples of Farmers Working Beyond Cultivating the Land
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that there are more than 570 million farms in the world. Behind each farm—at least 90 percent of which are considered family farms—is a farmer or team of farmers, collectively responsible for growing the world’s food. Food Tank is highlighting farmer heroes who go beyond cultivating the land, acting as employers, experimenters, keepers of tradition and contributors to healthy lifestyles.
Family farmers are key players in job creation and healthy economies, supplying jobs to millions and boosting local markets that are vulnerable to difficult climate and financial hardship, particularly because of the disproportionate amount of work required given the financial returns in farming. Farmers aren’t just food producers—they’re business women and men, they’re teachers in their communities, they’re innovators and inventors and they’re stewards of the land who deserve to be recognized for the ecosystem services they provide that benefit us all.
Meet 17 farmer heroes from around the world, working for innovation, sustainability, the environment and local economy, all doing more than putting food on our plates.
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