KATY PERRY
GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Katy has been farming for 7 years, “give or take.” She is working at a preschool full-time for the off season, but will be going back to farming full-time in May.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY DOING? (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING, ETC)
Currently I’m working at a preschool for the 4 months that I’m not farming.
I farmed at a farm about 20 minute from here on my partner’s friend’s farm last season and I’m going back to the same farm this season, starting up in April. I worked part-time on the farm until November and then December, January, February and March, there wasn’t going to be any employment for me there, so I had to get another job. I kind of found my groove over the past years of farming. I’ve been able to be a substitute teacher in the winters. This time I got a full-time job at a preschool. During Covid I’ve been with little kids without masks on every day.
During my interview, I told them I was going back to the farm in April. I’ll be 4 days of the week farm in April and one day at the preschool. Come May I’ll be 5-6 days/week of the farm, with the intention of maybe having this be a regular cycle.
We do vegetables, flowers, some fruit and we do laying hens, as well.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN FARMING?
I think it’s 7 years, give or take. I did a youth garden program in Seattle. That was kind of my foray into the farming world. From then on I’ve had some amount of farming in my life.
WHAT INITIALLY BROUGHT YOU TO THE FIELDS?
Growing up, we had a pretty big vegetable garden and I have always loved being outdoors and working with my hands. I know about myself that I’m not a screen person and need to be physically active. I was doing some of that work when I lived in Seattle and really felt like I was going to have to take the plunge to sign up to be a full-time farmer. The first thing I did was a 3-month commitment at a sheep dairy, which wasn’t the best experience for the animals or me but I knew after that I was going to keep going and maybe dairy wasn’t my chosen farming profession. I knew I had it in me to do this and I finally took the plunge and didn’t want to go back after that.
I kept moving around the country and kept going from one farm to the next. I spent two years at a farm in Maine and every other farm has been one year, except this farm will be the second year at one farm.
I’ve farmed in Vermont, Washington state, Massachusetts, Maine.
I farmed at 4 different farms in Washington state.
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO FARM FOR SOMEONE ELSE (NOW OR IN THE PAST?)
In the past it has seemed like the easier route. It seems really daunting, it has and still does, to start my own farm for financial reasons. Also I like working with other people. I have never felt drawn to just having my own farm just by myself, which I think given the financial constraints on my life if I did start a farm, it would have to be really small.
At first when I was starting to farm I was interested in working for other people to learn and gain experience.
I kept moving so I wasn’t really putting down really strong roots in many places… kind of just knowing I’ll be here for a year or two, so working for someone else seemed easier.
I worked for other people first for education and then in a lot of the farms I’ve worked at, I’ve lived on the farm, as well. That kind of community was really appealing to me. The reality of it is maybe a little different, but they were mostly good experiences and that was definitely another piece that was exciting to me initially when I was working for other folks.
Earlier in my farming life, I have definitely dreamt of starting my own farm. The more I’ve gotten into it, the less I feel inclined to do that. I just know the realities of running a farm business. I still don’t fully have to do that which I also find appealing. It’s a lot of computer work and social media outreach. That’s not why I’m farming. I want to farm to grow food and have communities be fed. The business side of farming, if someone else is gonna do that and is already doing it, I’m okay supporting them in any way that I can and not have that lie on my shoulders.
WHAT ARE SOME ISSUES FOR FARMERS WORKING ON SOMEONE ELSE'S FARM - ISSUES THAT YOU'VE WITNESSED OR EXPERIENCED?
I mean, not having autonomy, not having decision making power can be really hard. If you’re putting your blood, sweat and soul into being in a place and really trying to develop connection with the land and the people you’re working with, then to not have the ability to voice what you think is important or concerns you might have is hard.
What happened to me on one farm was that the owner started dating a new person and that person didn’t like the way things were going and this whole new energy that came on the farm was pretty toxic. I’d been there for a year and a half and that’s why I left that farm. It always felt like it was his farm and he had the ultimate say in everything, like their way or the highway. I was not feeling valued as a person.
The farm I’m on now I feel really great about. It’s the first farm I’ve worked with another woman on. It feels meaningful. I’'d only worked for white men prior. It’s a sweet partnership with this woman on the farm and I feel so heard and so valued, which feels so different than other experiences I’ve had on farms.
Even basic things like housing on farms…one of the farms I was living in an old farm house that was being renovated. Living and working there, and we were asked to relocate. One person lived in his van, one person was still in the house even though there were barely any walls in the house, and we had to move our kitchen outdoors. Being asked to do these things didn’t feel good while the farmer was still in his comfortable spot. None of our work demands were lessened at all.
That can go into pay, the living and working stipend I have experienced has been varied. Besides this farm I’m committing to working on again, I don’t think i’ve made enough money on any farm that I’ve worked on.
I worked for a friend who had just started his own farm and I knew he couldn’t afford to pay me anymore and I loved being on that farm and loved working with him so that felt fine, but with other farms when you know the bottom line, you know the farm is making a decent amount of money and they can afford to put an all slate roof on the brand new house that they are building, it starts to feel sad.
If you start breaking down what you make, it’s about $5/hour or less with housing.
Another farm in Washington, I was working on the farm with a family of Filipinos in their 60s -70s. They had been working on the farm for 15 years and they were making less than me, $1 less than me. That was my one non-organic, not groovy experience. I wanted to get a glimpse of the way some farms work. The owner was blatant about my ability to speak English being one of the reasons I got paid more. They busted their asses, it was crazy what these folks could do. Being on the farm was some of the best teamwork I’ve seen.
One day they just asked me how much I was making. I don’t think they were surprised. They knew it wasn’t my decision. They just kind of made some it’s a shame kind of noises.
Some farms I’ve worked on we’ve been asked to lift heavy heavy things, 70+ pounds, by ourselves. On this farm that was one thing that was going on, everyone pulled weight together.
On most of the farms, it was my intention to only work one year. At the farm in Maine, I was planning on staying for awhile until things didn’t work out anymore. All the other farms I signed up for a year, did the commitment and then moved on.
CAN YOU TELL ME THE QUALITIES OF A DREAM FARM NOT LEADING TO OWNERSHIP - THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO WORK ON?
I think the farm that I’m on now really has a lot of those qualities. I feel really valued. My experience is heard and my contributions are taken into account and we co-plan the crop plan together. Having it be a more collaborative process is really what I want and finally what I’m getting to.
Just doing it as a group. Just doing it with each other and not just being told this is my knowledge and you’ll listen to me. Just being asked and being heard and being a part of the farm.
I think it’s really nice. I know it’s really hard, but to have a pretty good work life balance. The farmer that I’m working with doesn’t work into the dark hours of the night and is really good at respecting their own time and the time of people working with her. Not overextending your workers or who ever is on the farm, having a structure of time and what we’re doing and following that schedule.
Having more access for folks to have food that don’t normally have access to organic food. Some sort of food conversation around who we are selling food to, who is able to eat our food, having that value be entrenched in the work that we’re doing. Making food accessible is really important in my dream farm.
Definitely a commune. More than a couple people working land together and growing together, having maybe different specialities that folks speak on, different responsibilities, having a shared understanding and point on the horizon that we’re all working toward.
“If you’re putting your blood, sweat and soul into being in a place and really trying to develop connection with the land and the people you’re working with, then to not have the ability to voice what you think is important or concerns you might have is hard.”
WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK?
I just love it. I love working outside everyday. I love being in soil. I love experiencing all of the seasons that I’m able to. I love growing food for other people, too. It’s really amazing to have such abundance that you’re able to share with other people.
I can’t think of other things that bring me this type of joy.
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE DIFFERENCE (IF ANY) BETWEEN A FARMER AND A "FARM WORKER"/"FARM EMPLOYEE" BESIDES PROPRIETORSHIP?
Farm worker and farm employee are similar in my mind. Maybe farm employee could also imply more office work type stuff and maybe not as much field work.
I started identifying myself as a farmer years ago and that felt really good and easy and I didn’t feel any sticking points around the fact that I didn’t own the farm.
Farm worker or employee both feel like they don’t have a stake in the farm, like they are just doing work, not making the big decisions or are the owner.
Farmers are all the people working on the land.
DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A FARMER? WHY OR WHY NOT.
Yes. After my first full season on a farm and committing to going to another farm for the next season, I started thinking “oh I’m a farmer.” After I worked for two seasons that gave me more grounding in that. Probably I went to a farmer conference in the winter and thought, yeah I’m a farmer.
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR PEOPLE WORKING ON FARMS NOT THEIR OWN?
Healthcare. Massachusetts has great affordable healthcare, but it varies state by state and if you have the means to figure out how to navigate signing up for healthcare. Having some sort of year round healthcare even if you’re not employed year round would be a really good one.
Sick days for any kind of work injury. I’ve never gotten injured on the job, but I’m sure that there are a lot of folks who have and haven’t been compensated and haven’t been taken care of in the way that humans should take care of each other.
Basic humans rights should be implemented across the board. It would be really nice to have some standard of pay or minimum wage.
This project is so important for people to know that their experiences are valued and heard and are not unique in a lot of ways. Having that kind of web to connect us is empowering. In our society we are continually told that we have to own things and we have to do whatever to be successful, and you don’t and it’s really nice to connect with people who feel that same way or have that same reality.
Living standards if you are living on farms. Making sure the places people are living in are supposed to be inhabited.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOURSELF & YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FARMING? WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?
It’s so far away from the season right now that it feels like everything is great.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION/TAKE ON THE FARMER LUNCH? (DO YOU TAKE LUNCH, DO YOU SKIP LUNCH, DO YOU ENJOY TAKING LUNCH WITH YOUR CREW - FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING, IS THERE PRESSURE TO BE SOCIAL....)
I definitely don’t skip lunch.
Some farms we stopped as close to noon to eat lunch. Other farms we’ve had to keep going until we had all the wholesale orders packed and ready to go and half the time I’d be the one doing deliveries so I’d eat in the car as I was traveling.
For the most part, a lot of the farms have had an hour lunch. It’s almost too long for my liking because I want to keep going and not fall into the sleepy time after lunch vibe. One farm had a pond so I would go swimming after lunch.
Another farm that my friend worked at would have a couple hour siesta and they world work later in the evening.
I love eating food with people. It’s important to slow down and be humans eating food together.
A lot of us would be eating vegetables and eggs from the farm.
We had a farm dinner once a week at one of the farms that I lived on, which was really nice. Lunch maybe feels a little more rushed if you have to have someone do the cooking who is also farming.
It would be really nice to have a farm lunch that someone else prepared who isn’t a farmer!
We’ve always had big tables or an area where everyone was eating together.
Working together, living together and also trying to cook lunch at the same time with different people cooking different things. It has felt pretty hectic. Four burners, four people making lunch.
