Bok-What? Farming Gets a Face-Lift :: Essays Papers

Bok-What? Farming Gets a Face-Lift 1. saucy island of Jersey home of the indelible and intelligent Jersey cow, whose milk is less forthcoming than her sister Holsteins around the country, but richer and creamier, nonetheless. Then there are the palm acres and acres of Jersey corn stretching up towards the alive summer sun, basking in its glory, waiting patiently for the day when man depart enter with his massive harvesting machines, collecting ear upon ear in a dizzying display of mechanized efficiency. And who could forget sodbuster Hom, with his tiny plan of bok choy, growing sprightly on his tiny farm alongside elflike mustard greens and bitter melon (Taipei Times, 17 Nov. 2002)? Wait a minute. That doesnt seem right. What are mustard greens, bitter melon, and bok choy doing in the middle of New Jersey?2. The answer lies in the current popularity of the vegetable itself an attractive vegetable with a mild, meaty heart and tender, darker green leaves . . . bok choy has become the vegetable of the import (Fabricant, 22 October 2001). Restaurants combining Asian seasoning to their dishes or employing fusion concepts keep created a sudden demand for strange and exotic produce. Regular consumers, too, progressively resideed in more healthful foods, have begun to show interest in this Brassica vegetables alleged cancer-fighting properties. There are some, like Farmer Hom in New Jersey, who have taken notice. Thus, they are abandoning traditional behind commodity crops like corn or soybeans, and focusing, instead, on these newly emerge niche markets, growing or creating a special product for particular proposition people.3. Niche solid ground is just one of many trends in gardening that seeks to add value to a product by catering to the specific needs of the consumer directly -- such as restaurants or individuals, rather than intumescent transnational corporations. It is a concept that is benefiting small farmers di rectly, those struggling to compete with large, super capitalized agribusiness because it allows them to produce products the big guys cant the most successful farmers have saturnine away from traditional farming that produces what people need to niche markets ground instead on what people want (Quimby, 17 Nov. 2002).4. Traditional farming practices follow an industrial model of production -- one based on specialization, mechanization, routinization, and economies of scale or size.