Letters to a Young Farmer: On Food, Farming, and Our Future

It is a gift.

There are some great letters in here (particularly from Karen Washington, Patel, and Temple Grandin, though there are many more) with encouragement and advice for young farmers. The first third of the book hade feeling motivated and encouraged to continue working towards farming, but the feeling didn't last. Many of the letters have the same message and communicate the same issues to young farmers, and the impact lessens throughout the book. I found myself wishing for solutions or action items from the writers who kept restating problems in agriculture, but it was rare to find any.I also wish that there had been voices from the average farmer, not just from big name writers, and that each letter had been written for the book. There were a few excerpts from other books or speeches that felt confusing to read (while reading Wendell Berry's, I distinctly thought that it sounded like preaching to a rural Kentucky person rather than a letter to a farmer - only to find at the end of the 'letter' that it was, in fact, a recorded speech to Kentucky people, not farmers). I understand the big name appeal is necessary for a selling point, but it's hard to take folks who did get rich farming (Joel Salatin) seriously when they tell you to expect to be broke. I'd rather hear that from an average, unknown, struggling farmer.All in all, it has potential and many great letters, but the messages end up getting lost the further you go through the book due to repetition and lack of unique content throughout.

Wonderfully entertaining and relatable essays about farming, shopping, cooking and eating for people of all ages. Colorful writing that may or may not inspire one to become a farmer, but it will awaken in everyone the desire to be more aware of how food gets to our table.I learned so much about the conscious buying and preparing of the foods we consume...it is a terrific read. This book would make a long-lasting-and-often-referred-to gift for anyone that eats, as well as to young gardeners who will certainly get a lot out of the more detailed essays on farming. The title really could be "Letters to Everyone Interested in the Food We Grow, Cook and Eat". Highly Recommended

I got a profound appreciation for anyone in this day and age who pursues responsible farming as a profession. The percentage of Americans involved in providing food domestically is in the single digits and very few consumers think of what goes on in the minds of these vital stewards.

Positive, inspirational and thoughtful. Good reading at the lunch table before heading back out. I haven't read all of the essays, but am picking my way through them. So far, so good.

Great and important book.Glad I read it.

Letters to a young farmer is one of the most useful and truthful books I have ever read! Every person aspiring to become a farmer should read this book!

This is a remarkable collection of essays from some of the most insightful contemporary experts in the field of agriculture. An excellent read!

Uma ideia simples e muito bacana para jovens agricultores em geral. Seria interessante alguma editora brasileira puxar a tradução para o Português, para alcançar ainda mais rapazes e moças que vivem no campo brasileiro e tem o desejo de permanecer no meio rural com qualidade de vida.

This is my absolute favourite book! There are so many important people on this book: farmers, professors, writers and so on! They all give advices and tell different stories! So many inspirations, beautiful thoughts and words that stay in your heart and mind for days after reading them. This can change lives and for sure this changed mine for the better. I suggest this book to everyone out there interested in food, farming, sustainability, culture, history ecc...this is basically for everyone and I wish more people could read this book because it's so educating and it makes you think of so many important different aspects of our lives, as single people and as communities. Thank you!

It's pretty dry and boring.