Hello Red Dog Customer! My name is Jake Carson, and I am new to the farming life, having only started at Red Dog just over a month ago. Only months ago, I was convinced that my life would take the path that so many of my friends’ and family members’ lives have already taken: I was to go to college, get my bachelor’s degree and, because I chose history for a major, then it would be onto grad school. Raised to believe that this was one of the noblest lives I could lead, raised to believe that I would never be happy with a job which demanded physical labor, I devoted my life to studying. Mathematics, science, history, philosophy, I wanted to study it all and understand everything. I was convinced that this would help me understand life, help me find my place in this world. While it did help me understand a lot, for all my trouble, I mostly ended up with anxiety and depression.

Then, in my last year of college, I finally understood one of the great truths of humanity which we so desperately seek while studying history: humans have always wanted to know their place in this world, and the only way they have ever found it is by being true to themselves and what they know they need. Because of this, I was finally able to shed the learned biases I had developed and admit that I am happy farming. I am never going to be a great scientist, a great politician, even a great historian. It is my place in this world to exhaust myself each and every day moving the lines which carry the rushing water from our wells to our crops. I am happiest counting out bunches of orange carrots and broccoli crowns I collect from our harvest, simply to see how many I have done that day. Planting crops into soft soil, I ground myself in the nature of growth when I feel anxious and I look to see the ever-changing crop lines when I am convinced life will always be the same.

Life is terrifying and confusing. But here, on the farm, I feel nothing but understanding and peace. I hope you enjoy your food. I very much enjoyed harvesting it.

~Jake