Entry #4 - Agriculture from Farm to...

Norman Rockwell's The County Agent (1948), 

When I imagine farms like probably the average person I think of it as an idyllic place with fields full of food and green pastures for free range animals but as many documentaries have reported this is not in tune with modern reality of factory farms.  However, food quality and food mile awareness has risen to make consumers rethink where their food comes from.  In this blog post, I think its also important to rethink what grows on farms and where does it go....the places are certainly not limited to the table.

In class, I used the example of Christmas tree farms to bring attention to the fact that other things are farmed not necessarily to be eaten.  The main product of a Christmas tree farm are trees for decorative purposes in celebration of the Christmas holiday which can be used for up to 2 months and then where do they go.  The National Christmas Tree Association actively collects consumer data and their latest surveys indicate that over a billion dollars is spent annual on real christmas trees. Most trees end up at the curb while others with roots are replanted. There is an emphasis now placed on recycling christmas trees.

Author's Original (September, 2015). TLOZec

While students should choose from a wide variety of other farms (fruit, nuts, dairy, livestock, non-edible crops used in other industries like textiles and pharmceuticals, etc.). I will explain furthe where do Christmas trees go to once they leave the farm.

There are various businesses that sprout up from Christmas tree farms...

The farm themselves can be destination from simple choose and cut....where customers can come and pick out the tree and cut it from the property themselves to complete winter wonderlands where the christmas tree farms host events and create magical family experiences around the Christmas holidays. Some activities even include hayrides, petting zoo to full family vacation spots.

For others the christmas tree farms cut and ship off their trees locally, nationally and even internationally.  These distributed trees make their way into pop-up tree sales in parking lots as well as into wholesale and retail chains.  They go on to be decorated with simple popcorn strings and lights to elaborate homemade and store bought creations.  Stylists can even come in and decorate your whole holiday home including indoor and outdoor decor for those with an extensive budget. 

However after the holidays the destiny of many trees becomes mulch which are trees ground to chips for use in spring gardening projects. Others are turning the wood from the trees into rustic furniture and others are created blocks of eco briquettes for use as energy in the fireplaces.  One of the most unusual uses I found was for natural disaster prevention where coastal cities bury christmas trees in their sand dunes to make more stable solutions during storms as flood prevention along the coast.

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