this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
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Solarpunk Farming

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Farm all the things!

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Should we Farm like the Amish? (headwatersblog.substack.com)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by Nyssa@slrpnk.net to c/farming@slrpnk.net
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[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

This search for new industries is a strategic one that plays on their unique characteristics. Their large families provide abundant labor that can be channeled towards certain enterprises. This allows the Amish to be particularly competitive in growing produce, a sector where much labor is still done by human hands.

Well, that's a nice polite way to say "Amish farms rely on child labor".

And as much as conservatives would love to see America's kids working in the fields instead of woke liberal crap like (checks notes) graduating high school, I have to decline.

As much as I dislike modern industrial agriculture, pre-industrial agriculture was literally backbreaking work, brutal on both humans and their animal tools. I want to see solar powered farms, not muscle powered farms.

And while Amish communities have strong community bonds and support networks, which I wish more American communities had, those networks are facilitated by ~~being a fucking cult~~ a commitment to enforced ideological conformity that a functional multicultural society cannot and should not replicate.

Yeah, this article is real soft on them. You can point out things you admire without ignoring the child abuse/puppy mills/etc.

[–] Asmodeus77@lemmy.today 8 points 5 days ago

No.

“The pursuit of new markets epitomizes the Amish response to agricultural transition. This includes establishing greenhouses to grow ornamentals and retail garden plants. Pet rearing and the raising of game animals for hunting ranches are other cottage industries that have been successful in certain communities.”

So in other words, “puppy mills” and raising “wild” animals for the purpose of being shot at hunting ranches. Not to mention the overall poor treatment of animals.

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

High on meth?

[–] greengnu@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 days ago

no.

Hydro/aeroponics with greenhouses is the way forward

and until climate change is reversed, the green houses are only going to get more essential.