Interesting Facts. . .

Out of the entire US population, what is the percentage of family farmers and ranchers? Any ideas? Any guesses? 2% (+/-) of the U.S. population is made up of family farms and ranches. There are close to 1.9 million farms across the U.S. and they account for approximately 1% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. It’s estimated that there will be 2.2 billion people worldwide by 2050 meaning that the World’s (not U.S. - the World!) farmers will need to increase current production by 70%. (Information from this paragraph can be found here: https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts)

Why am I talking about this? Why does this matter? Jeremy and I attended a 7th grade career day for the Fort Mill School District. The career fair was a well oiled machine and expertly ran by the District. There were estimated to be close to 1,500 students in attendance between 9am and 2pm. Out of those 1,500 students - how many came to our Growing JOY Farms booth?

We had 36 students and 7 teachers visit our table. If you look at the students only that’s 36 students / 1,500 possible students for a total visitation rate of 2.4%.

We don’t like to call ourselves farmers - because we’re really not in the traditional sense. Yet, we’re utilizing aquaponics to help grow our produce, specifically lettuce, in a more efficient manner that doesn’t involve topsoil and only uses about 8% of the water compared to traditional farming. We’re trying to play a smart part in our area.

Farming is tough work. It involves a lot of risk, effort, and a lot of work. Yet, as indicated at the beginning of this blog, it’s something we need and something we need to be teaching to the next generation.

The farm is always open. Jeremy and I’d love to show you around.

Have a great weekend!

J&J