Although thousands of roads go from Urban America to Rural America the wall between the two couldn’t be larger. We speak the same language, but do we? We are all American, but what does that mean to the different Americas? We may shop at the same stores, but we don’t shop for the same things.
This wall is always apparent when I contact farmers asking them to become suppliers for Your Freshest Food. In Urban America you walk in with your money and tell them what you want, in Rural America your money means very little until you have developed a relationship. In Urban America business deals are as good as the contract they are written into, in Rural America there is very seldom anything written.
I was raised in Urban America, and the disconnect always surprises me when I cross this wall into Rural America. I call several farmers, talk to my current suppliers, and talk to my customers to see who would be a good farmer for the in season crops. Everyone has their names, their connections and their neighbors, but still the relationship trumps the connection.
Because of this I always have difficulty establishing the relationship with the farmers, I am usually an out-of-state person calling them randomly and asking about their farm; essentially one of their children. As an urban dweller I have had to change how I communicate, my patience level, and my mannerisms; it has been a very long, and ongoing process, a process I didn’t foresee when I went into business.
Each year when I call farmers I always have to remind myself, these people are in their farms everyday. They know better than anyone you cannot speed mother nature, you can’t control anything about the weather. They know they are the victim, or the beneficiary. The only thing that tell them their fate is time, and all they can do is wait, and work. Most urbanites cannot comprehend this, nor could they live by it, but seeing this self-discipline always teaches me, and reminds me that urbanites have a lot to learn away from the internet.
This wall is always apparent when I contact farmers asking them to become suppliers for Your Freshest Food. In Urban America you walk in with your money and tell them what you want, in Rural America your money means very little until you have developed a relationship. In Urban America business deals are as good as the contract they are written into, in Rural America there is very seldom anything written.
I was raised in Urban America, and the disconnect always surprises me when I cross this wall into Rural America. I call several farmers, talk to my current suppliers, and talk to my customers to see who would be a good farmer for the in season crops. Everyone has their names, their connections and their neighbors, but still the relationship trumps the connection.
Because of this I always have difficulty establishing the relationship with the farmers, I am usually an out-of-state person calling them randomly and asking about their farm; essentially one of their children. As an urban dweller I have had to change how I communicate, my patience level, and my mannerisms; it has been a very long, and ongoing process, a process I didn’t foresee when I went into business.
Each year when I call farmers I always have to remind myself, these people are in their farms everyday. They know better than anyone you cannot speed mother nature, you can’t control anything about the weather. They know they are the victim, or the beneficiary. The only thing that tell them their fate is time, and all they can do is wait, and work. Most urbanites cannot comprehend this, nor could they live by it, but seeing this self-discipline always teaches me, and reminds me that urbanites have a lot to learn away from the internet.
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