In addition to the difference it made in their customers’ lives, a few of the producers we spoke with were also motivated to educate their customers and help foster connection because of the influence it had on the future of farming.

These producers, like P10 and P7, believed that if people were connected to their food -- connected to the producers who made it, familiar with the way in which it grew, and just informed about the entire story behind it -- then they would be more likely to help create positive changes on a per farm basis and, more generally, at a political/policy generation level.

P10 believed:

“To me, I think one of the most useful possibly in terms of like getting customers to feel involved and supportive and interested in this movement and the farm is not necessarily to like dumb it down for them but to like just share, if there were more resources and farms communicating and sharing examples of what they’re doing and that was available to just people in general I think people would find it pretty interesting.”

He elaborated on this thinking, saying:

"First of all the more members feel connected and like they’re not just on the receiving end of the CSA but they’re participants in the farm in one way or another, whether it be by coming up and helping us plant onions or sharing recipes online with their members or just hearing more details in the newsletter about the farm, feeling like they know what’s going on and they’re part of that, the more we can do that, the more we can…well one thing is probably less turnover in members which is always helpful. And then yeah the more we can have them contribute like for trying to get land.”

P10 not only saw benefits to his farm specifically but also to farming in a broader context. “There are a lot of policy changes that should really happen to make what we’re doing more feasible,” he said, “and the more we can have members on board with being organized around that and informed and possibly take actions.”

 P7 felt similarly stressing:

“The important thing is that people of all walks of life see what is going into a working farm know what places like this exist in the county. Next time a development proposal comes up to subdivide into three acre parcels, they may think it should not be approved and preserve the agriculture part of the land so someone can farm it someday.”

A2 also emphasized that “we need people to be concerned about soil availability…water conservation,” illustrating the importance of informing consumers about these widespread issues, their affect on producers, and how consumers can help.

Other producers we spoke with felt strongly about educating children about their food and the story behind it and exposing them to farms, gardens, and ranches. Producers like P7, P9, A1, and A4 felt that it was especially important to educate children so that these future generations would have a better idea of what a farmer does and, through these experiences, hopefully be encouraged to become one when they grow up.

“You know what a dentist does,” said P7, “as a child or an adult you have a concept of what that occupation is...‘oh I want to be a doctor, a firefighter, a grocery store owner, a seller of solar panels,’...but how many people have the experience of a farmer?”  P7 continued to explain how he thought it was especially important for children to visit his farm, and that he specifically grows strawberries for kids to pick, in order to give them that experience. Similarly, A4 mentioned that in the future she wanted to provide a hands-on experiential learning space for children. She said, “I think my ideal would be to have a piece of land and be some type of school place.” A1 also thought that "getting kids to understand their surroundings" was important because natural experiences like “life, death, and eating are the only common experiences.”

For some producers, like P4, the children they were hoping to encourage were their own. She loved the fact that her children were “interested in being involved long-term” and said that “creating something viable for the next generation” was a key part of being successful because “the kids give us hope." These producers really believed, as P9 put best, “The best crop we can raise is a new generation of farmers.”