The MBA Recruiter Learns to Farm

by guest blogger Tyler Henderson, co-owner of Big City Farms, SkillShare "Feast"ival rainbarrel presenter

In addition to farming, I have a completely different profession. I am the Director of Operations for North and South America for the Bocconi University School of Management in Milan, Italy. Laura (my wife) and I lived in Europe from 2004-2006 where I completed a master’s program in higher education policy and upon completing that program, I took a job in Milan that required I live somewhere in North or South America (wouldn’t you choose Indy if you could live anywhere in this hemisphere!).

I am responsible for student recruitment for two international MBA programs requiring that I travel for 10 weeks each fall and 4 weeks each spring. I am writing this from Shanghai and from here I will end up in Japan, Korea, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Turkey and Italy before returning to Indianapolis in November. I am not sure that I could have two professions that have a wider gap between localization and globalization. My hope in all this is that I am a better farmer because I am an MBA recruiter and vice versa.

I was reflecting on the summer these past few days, as I realized my summer has come to a quick end. I set out this summer with one goal that I verbally expressed to Matthew [Jose] and Laura while sharing a meal together last winter: learn how to run a small-scale, CSA-based, vegetable farm. I always want to farm with Matthew (let me say that again, always) but I thought if Matthew were to ever change his mind about farming, or move away from Indianapolis, I would still hope to run a farm. I am pleased (and somewhat surprised) to say that I think I met this goal. I had been no more than a hobby backyard gardener before this summer, so the amazingly sharp learning curve that was achieved is satisfying.

Vegetable farming has called on many capacities, both predicated and unpredicted. Of course, I realized there would be long hours, early mornings, hot days and exhausting work – those go with the territory. What I had not accounted for was the degree of planning, organization, networking and public relations. It has confirmed the point of Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin and others – we need farming to attract the best and brightest as a profession, as opposed to a profession chosen by folks who might not have other options. This will not happen until the chasm between the pay scale of farming and jobs like international recruitment is closed. It strikes me every time I think about the difference in money I earn in these two professions.

The world would be fine if every MBA recruiter stopped working tomorrow, but what about if every farmer quit tomorrow?

The summer has been full of big and small battles both won and lost. The wins of starting the first onion seeds in February, planting the first radishes March, building sturdy trellises in April, watching the crops take off in May, starting the CSA in June, getting a bumper crop of tomatoes in July and the magic of digging the first potatoes in August. The losses of sleep, crops to bind weed and the anguish of hoping for rain during the driest August on record.

But these tangible wins and losses are lessons that will be applied to next year, and the year after, until the wins get bigger and more satisfying and the losses get smaller and more humorous.

I cannot remember the last time I vocalized a specific goal and then met every ounce of that goal - I am afraid we do this too little as adults.

--excerpted from Tyler Henderson's letter to Big City Farms' Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members. See Tyler discussing rainbarrels in this video created by Steven Shattuck.