Interview with William Blanda, a young farmer from Hale Eddy, NY.

March 13th 2015

Questions:
1) Are you familiar with the idea or practice of farm to fork, or farm to table?
a) Yes I am.
2) Do you grow your own crops? If yes, how much of your produce goes to a local
market? If no, how much of your produce comes from a local source?
a) Ive grown for farm to table restaurants. The one was the only restaurant in the area,
and they would buy a sizeable amount of local produce.
3) How much do you think the average person knows about where their food comes from?
Why do you think this is?
a) Not a lot for most people. Location has a lot to do with that. Some areas have more
awareness. People from NYC would come up for tours of the farm that I worked on. I
believe we need more small family farms, there are few cities that need lots of
vegetables
4) What are CSAs? What is your opinion on them? Is this the direction that farming
should shift towards?
a) Community supported agriculture. I think theyre great. Ive grown for a couple CSAs,
varying in membership from 4-30 people to 100-150 people. CSAs supplies farmer with
necessary and vital income in beginning of season. Which can be a tough time as
theres no income. They should be more common. I think theyre wonderful.
5) Which do you think contributes more to the local economy: a supermarket, or a local
farm market?
a) A local farm market. Sometimes a supermarket will buy in from local growers but its a
pain for farmers. Everything needs barcodes and its way more difficult. If someone
spends 20 bucks, it will make a farmers day. Im a big supporter of local agriculture.
Usually three quarters of their income is from farmers markets.
6) What are some sustainable/environmentally friendly farming practices that you practice
and/or believe in?
a) I like the Farmers Pledge. Its where you agree to grow in accordance to organic
certification standards, but youre not actually certified, certification is very flawed.
7) Heres a hypothetical situation: you could chose to grow a crop in a way that will
minimize your impact on the environment, but I will cost you more than normal

practices. Or you could use common farming methods that will allow you to keep a
larger profit, but at decreased environmental quality (i.e. water quality. Which would you
choose?
a) Yeah thats a tough one. I certainly wouldnt want to poison the water supply. Farmers
dont make a lot of money so its hard for farmers to make the switch to environmentally
friendly practices. You could charge a premium on top of environmental practices. I
would choose the environmentally sustainable option, I typically align more with organic
ideas.
8) How has farming changed over the years from your point of view?
a) Over the years, people have taken on an awareness of organically grown products.
Farmers markets are pretty easy to get into in NYC. Theres been more of a trend
towards that. Ecotourism is also much more common. The actual methods havent
really changed though. Some farms have been using aggressive social media tactics.
But this makes me wonder, are you farming to grow food or be famous?
9) Can any of this be attributed to climate change? If not, do you believe that climate
change is impacting agriculture?
a) I think the ecotourism could be affected. More farms are being impacted by natural
disasters. Flooding is definitely a real concern. Younger farmers are trying to push their
focus on more than just selling produce. Theyre trying to make a show that theyre
hip
10) Do you plant in monocultures? What affect do you believe this has, for you and the
nature of farming?
a) I dont. It can actually be good for the land. But its on the small scale growing on land.
I do use no till farming. Ill cut in fields into a grassland, then put on cover crop. Small
sections, not large scale. Leaving spaces for wildlife to live. Animals are tough though
because they like to eat the crops.
11) Do you use pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or any related treatment? What is your
opinion on the use of these practices, and how does this compare to public opinion?
a) I dont. The most intense thing Ive done is with aphids. Using small organisms to eat
these. I dont want to knock it though, some people are dependent on them. But at the
same time I dont want to be around the use of them. If I dont want it sprayed on my
dinner plate then I dont want it sprayed on my crops. I rather have as natural as
possible with human work put in. Psychologically pesticides are scary.
12) What is organic farming? Is it real? Is it practical?
a) Its very real and very practical. Its a great way for the world to feed itself. But it is lot
more labor intensive. People dont want to pay the added price for organic produce. Its

practical if youre willing to do the work and you have a market place People need to
learn that you shouldn't grow plants where there are a lot of pests.
13) What is integrated pest management?
a) I really dont know.
14) What is factory farming and what is its impact on the food industry and the
environment?
a) Growing a lot of one thing. Tyson chicken farms, make farmers just farm poultry. It puts
a contracted farmer in a tough spot. Factory farming aids in ruining the environment.
Theyre not growing food for human consumption, its not small scale or sustainable. Its
corporate. You have guys in suits rather than overalls and a hoe.
15) What is your knowledge on the meat industry? Do you believe the way we get our
meat is ethical?
a) Im aware of factory farms and small operations. Some of its great some not. Large
scale meat production is great because you can get meat cheap. Small scale farms are
not that different in that way. People may not want to eat meat regardless. You may not
be able to do it in a way that doesnt gross you out and make money.
16) What is the biggest impact of farming on the environment? How can we work with
farmers to solve problems like this?
a) Pesticide spills and things like that. Big monocultures could deplete soil and ruin the
land as they need a lot of work. You need to get more awareness out on how to solve
this. You dont have to be foolish. There needs to be more awareness to farmers that
they can do it without ruining the environment. Young farmers are helping.
17) Do you believe that farming is contributing to the loss of forests? In the big picture
scenario, is this harming the environment?
a) I definitely think its getting rid of forests. But a lot of old farmland as gone back to being
woodlands. At least in the US and New York theres not too much of an issue as there
still is a lot of farmland here and in the Midwest. But I wouldnt know how to fix this.
How do you convince someone not to eat?
18) As you know the global human population is exploding to extraordinary numbers, and
with 54% of people living in urban areas (which is expected to increase to 66% by 2050)
are we going to face a food crisis?
a) Because of the factory farms we wont, but there may be an environmental crisis.
Urban gardens are becoming more common, but how much does this feed? Most
people are growing gardens for fun. There is a huge number of young farmers trying to
tackle that issue. Its definitely something that should be sorted out soon. We need
great minds to solve this.

19) Farmers are some of the most hardworking people on the planet, and being exposed
directly to the environment, how much do you think farmers care about the state of the
environment locally, and around the world?
a) I think they care a lot about it. Its pleasant to enjoy working in your environment. You
dont want to put yourself in bad environment. Climate change stinks especially when
youre used to farming a mild climate and that changes. Environment is key to enjoying
where you are. I rather be in a forest than chemical plant.
20) What is the future of farming?
a) I think and hope that it is small scale and organically grown. Id like to see farming
serving the community, with 5/10 acres supporting a community. Hopefully family farms
will pop up again. They draws people together. But with a lot of small farms popping up,
hopefully wont be oversaturated.