It’s obvious, but it’s worth stating that farming can be a stressful, hazardous, and draining occupation. In an industry where so much of one’s success is dependent on volatile weather, fast-evolving markets, and human hands, it’s ever-important for farmers to focus on keeping well.
Farmer Wellness is a big, loaded phrase that means many things to many people. A knee-jerk reaction would lead most to think about mental health, stress, and farmer suicide, all of which are on the rise. Further thinking leads one to consider financial hardships, which continue to plague farmers erode mental well-being. There’s some other obvious associations with farmer wellness, including injury, illness, and heat stress, all of which present a day-to-day challenge throughout the season.
NOFA NJ is eager to bring Farmer Wellness to life and help provide a more comprehensive approach to supporting farmers’ wellbeing. While hotlines, resources, and awareness education are helpful, they address the symptoms of the issue. How do we, as a community, address the root causes?
A more comprehensive approach to farmer wellness focuses on prevention first. Addressing producers’ financial literacy helps producers make better money management decisions, hopefully precluding bad business habits, compounding interest on debt, and insufficient cash flow. Training for injury prevention, mobility, and proper nutrition keeps farmers farming and earning money, whereas injuries and illnesses incur both a financial and a mental cost. Equipping our community through mental health first aid trainings helps us recognize when a fellow farmer needs to be engaged and supported, hopefully well-before their issues evolve into a crisis.
Most of all, how can we fashion an enjoyable workplace and industry culture, one that values not the number of hours worked or blisters earned but the ability to be a whole human, to collaborate and support each other, and the ability to step away from the work when it becomes unhealthy? This is a tall task, but farm profitability alone won’t fix farming – we need to look at the farmer holistically, and we need whole farmers if we’re ever to have a wholesome food system.
NOFA NJ Annual Farmer Wellness Day
A big step in NOFA NJ’s Farmer Wellness Initiative took place on Monday, October 13th at Pinelands Preservation Alliance, as NOFA NJ hosted its third Annual Farmer Wellness Day. Supported by funding from Northeast SARE in partnership with Virtua Health and Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Mobilizing for Farmer Wellness: Mental and Physical Health Programs for Producers brought together farmers, wellness care providers, medical service providers, therapists and more for a day of learning an connection around farmer wellness.
Attendees had the opportunity to learn from, connect with and enjoy:
- Cynthia Flores (Farm Labor Movement) – Physical Performance, Nutrition, and Injury Prevention
- Kate Brown (Rutgers Cooperative Extension) – Managing and Preventing Heat Stress
- Andrea Kennette, LMT (Martenette Farms) – Farmer Self-Massage Tools
- Cliff Pristas (Veteran Farmers of NJ) – Farm Safety Considerations
- Jeff Tober (Rancocas Creek Farm) – Walking Farm Tour
- Gabby Aron (Autumn Olive Food Works) – Women in Farming Discussion Circle
- Jocelyn Ackerman, LMFT (Easton Neuropsychology) – Nutrition for Physical and Mental Wellness
In addition, attendees were able to enjoy free resources, including:
- $25 paid survey on farmer wellness challenges, needs, and resources
- Build-Your-Own First Aid Kit station provided by NOFA NJ
- Skin Cancer Detection, Eat Well Produce Bags, and Blood Pressure Screenings provided by Virtua Health
Resources and links to presentations will be posted to the NOFA NJ Farmer Wellness Page shortly. Please check back for continued updates as we bring farmer wellness engagement throughout the Garden State!