WILLOW RUDIGER
PRINCE RUPERT, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Willow has been farming going on 20 years, with occasional breaks. She works for a farm located in northern British Columbia.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY DOING? (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING, ETC)
I work at a farm in northern British Columbia. It’s a 300 acre farm, but it’s about 2 acres intensively worked. I am a market gardener there and I’m oing into second season there.
The town does not have an ag base at all. It’s an island. Basically a big rock, no farms, and the closest farm land and agricultural land is about two hours from here. I followed my partner here for work. I tried to make a go of things working in a greenhouse and on urban farming projects, but not anything on a farming scale. Those were all side projects, and weren’t enough to sustain full time.
Animal welfare is another passion of mine. I was suffering from compassion fatigue at the animal agency and I noticed a website called Young Agrarians that connects all farmers in this area and I found the job opportunity from there.
My partner and I have some property out there and it’s a community that we care about a lot. I wanted to get involved more there, so working at the farm was an opportunity to connect with the community there and get back to my first love, which is growing food. It feels good to be growing outside and working with the seasons.
The property was an emotional purchase for us. It was a place that reminded of us of a place that we used to take our dog back in Washington. It’s pretty remote and we have ideas of how we want live there someday. It would be off grid and very difficult to have a homestead there with a farm that you could get things to market. Right now I live in a cabin that I rent on the farm that I work.
The farm I work with now wants partners – not employees. We want to work collectively to grow food for our community – no bosses. Being in a work environment where everyone’s experience and skill set is valued and utilized is empowering! We’re in the process of forming a worker’s cooperative and I’m so excited to see how it unfolds.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN FARMING?
I don’t know. I’ve had farm jobs off and on since I was 15. My first job when I was 15 was on a flower farm basically harvesting and drying flowers. Then I worked on a dairy when I was 15 and a half for a couple years. I went off to university and got back into it after university through WWOOFing in Hawaii. Farming has happened on the west coast off and on ever since. So I’d say I’ve been farming off and on for twenty years.
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO FARM FOR SOMEONE ELSE (NOW OR IN THE PAST?)
I tried having my own farming operation, but ultimately we had to close it down because we needed to move for a job opportunity we couldn’t pass up. It felt like a big failure. But I’m glad I tried, and I’m grateful to the family, friends, and community members who supported me during that adventure. The land I had been leasing ended up being sold about a year after we left for a price we couldn’t afford.
I don’t have intentions of owning my own farm business again.
I love being a part of the heart of the operation. Planning, growing, transplanting, harvesting, processing, markets. It’s all the other aspects of managing employees and marketing, all that other stuff, it’s a lot. Plus at this point, I’m 35. The idea of starting over from scratch overwhelms me.
I like the idea of working with people who really believe in what they are doing and are inspired by what they are doing and I feel appreciated and I feel like I’m a part of something, doing something with others and not going on your own.
In my early years in farming I’d had some morale crushing experiences as a farm employee. I found it particularly difficult in certain jobs working for white cis men who really knew how to take up space and assert themselves as authoritative leader. Those kinds of power dynamics didn’t sit well with me. Maybe it’s because I was raised by a strong, independent, single mom who taught me to defy the patriarchal system that still permeates every aspect of society - including agriculture.
My mom was the one who helped me find land to lease and gave me the push I needed to start a farm project of my own. During those two years it was difficult to envision it being sustainable, especially without owning the land. My partner and I were having a hard time making ends meet. I was working two part-time jobs and my partner’s work was unstable. Ultimately we had to close it down because we needed to move for a job opportunity we couldn’t pass up. It felt like a big failure. But I’m glad I tried, and I’m grateful to the family, friends, and community members who supported me during that adventure. The land I had been leasing ended up being sold about a year after we left for a price we couldn't afford.
I spent a few years doing non-profit work, but I realized I’m happiest when I’m playing in the dirt, so I went back to farming for other people. I don’t have intentions of owning my own farm business again.
All the successful farmers that I’ve met, they were born into their land or they inherited it or they had a huge chunk of money to buy land.
“Over the years I’ve had the great pleasure of working with and learning from so many amazing farmers, by which I mean to include workers, volunteers, apprentices, teachers and owners.”
WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK?
FOR THE LOVE OF IT.
I LOVE THE LIFESTYLE. The physical work focuses my mind and relieves my anxiety. I love working outside. Swooshing around in my rain gear. Running around the farm at the end of the work day picking dinner. Sharing meals with my fellow farmers. Preserving food for winter.
I LOVE THE PEOPLE. The people I work with, including the amazing WWOOFers and Apprentices I have the privilege to learn from and share knowledge with. The neighbors, CSA members, and farmer’s market customers whose support makes it all possible. The greater community of local food producers in our area.
I LOVE THE SOUNDTRACK. The sounds of all the creatures moving around and nearby the farm - sheep, chickens, cows, wildlife, the cat, the dog, the people too. The sound a collinear hoe makes as it glides through the soil disrupting weeds in its path. The squeaky wheel sound the greenhouse door makes when you open and close it. The play lists blaring in the packing shed that keep our energy up on harvest days.
I LOVE THE PLANTS. Pouring over seed catalogs and getting excited about varieties I haven’t tried before. Planting seeds and watching them grow. The peppery taste of arugula. The heady smell of basil (my favorite plant to harvest). KALE! It’s just the best. The plants are great teachers. When the wind is ripping around you, just bend with it - don’t break. When the flood waters are rising, hold fast and stay rooted - don’t wash away. And whatever you do - keep growing!
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE DIFFERENCE (IF ANY) BETWEEN A FARMER AND A "FARM WORKER"/"FARM EMPLOYEE" BESIDES PROPRIETORSHIP?
The farmer tends to have, maybe not historically, but now especially in the realm of food work, a bit of status, I guess. Yeah, I’m a farmer. It’s a word that I think holds more weight whereas “farm worker” denotes somebody doing grunt work as opposed to ownership in something bigger. It’s kind of like queen bee versus worker bee, like a sense of importance, it sounds more important.
DO YOU CALL YOURSELF A FARMER? WHY OR WHY NOT.
No, I haven’t, but maybe I should. I always just call myself a farm worker. I’ve caught myself at farmers’ markets when people ask if I’m an owner, I say, I’m just an employee, let me ask my boss. Why do I even say that? My bosses haven’t put that on me. I should just own the moment and say this is what I think. It’s not because of anything that my employers have said to make me feel like I’m just a worker or employee. I kind of have seen myself that way. I gotta get over that.
I don’t know why that is, maybe it’s my working class background, I don’t know.
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR PEOPLE WORKING ON FARMS NOT THEIR OWN?
Well this is helpful, talking to other people who are in the same boat. We’ve got to support each other and encourage each other to own our work and be proud of what we do.
I’ve definitely felt isolated. I’ve had some farm jobs WWOOfing or work trade where it felt like the workers were united and we’ve been frustrated with the same BS and have each other to lean on, or I’ve been the sole employee and don’t have anybody to bounce ideas off of.
This farm is very remote. There are some young farmers in the area, but nothing like the connections that I’ve had in Seattle. The people I work for now have had similar experiences. They have been in my shoes as a worker and they wanted to do it different. They could see it from both sides, being an employee and being a worker. Every other farmer I’ve worked for has either worked for their parents (born into it) or they had a lot of money to get started. They never went out and did those work trades or schooling, they jumped into it because they had the money to do it , or family, do you know what you mean? That’s been a big difference. Working for people who get it and who have been on the end of learning as they go. Seeking opportunities to learn from other farmers.
It’s kind a fluke thing. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t find them, if I would've gone back to farming. I didn’t see how I could get back into farming where we are currently at. Some of the farmers I’ve met didn’t seem like people I’d be comfortable working for, their values and methods didn’t line up with me. I am really fortunate that I met these farmers and they gave me the opportunity.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOURSELF & YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FARMING? WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?
I want to see more people farming. I feel like there have been these little waves, like in the 70s with back to the land and Alan Chadwick and Scott Nearly, and I feel like these things need to ramp up fast. I want to inspire other people to get into farming. I don’t know how to do it. There are so many barriers. Everything is so based on resource extraction where I live now, pipelines and forestry and port jobs that pay $40/hour. Young people don’t see a future in farming. I’m worried about where things are going. The climate is not in good shape.
We need local food systems and we need people to work together. I do feel alone at times thinking about food and farming.
Since moving up to Northern BC, the food costs are insane. Everything is trucked in from thousands of miles away. We went from spending less than $100/month on groceries (in Washington State) with a market garden and working on farms, to spending $500/month, not eating out or anything. That was a huge slap in the face. I helped start a community garden. There are so many issues around food insecurity and poverty here in the north. I used to think about food deserts in the context of urban areas, but now I see they exist in rural areas, as well.
Some lack sufficient access to fresh foods of ANY kind on a regular basis, let alone organic produce. There are communities that are over 75 miles from the nearest grocery store. That’s 150 miles round trip, and gas is not cheap. Getting to food sources can be particularly challenging without a vehicle or reliable public transportation. The growing season is short up here and many don’t have access to land for growing or gathering. The winter can feel pretty long. There can be road closures from unpredictable events like avalanches and washouts that can take time to repair. Power outages aren’t uncommon and people have lost food stored in their freezers.
Thinking about all of these concerns makes me want to be a part of efforts that strengthen local food systems and ensure that healthy food is more affordable and accessible for everyone.
Over the years I’ve had the great pleasure of working with and learning from so many amazing farmers, by which I mean to include workers, volunteers, apprentices, teachers, and owners. The farm I work with now wants partners - not employees. We want to work collectively to grow food for our community - no bosses. Being in a work environment where everyone’s experience and skill set is valued and utilized is empowering! We’re in the process of forming a worker’s cooperative and I’m so excited to see how it unfolds.
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 love it.
Where I’m at now, we take lunch together and we take turns cooking. There is endless access for things on the farm to use. One farm I had to keep track of if I wanted to take something home, I had to keep track of what I’m using. That seemed silly when there was so much abundance, it was a 25 acre tractor scale organic farm.
Now it’s, hey it’s lunch time, let’s grab some stuff out of the garden and make it. We are all working together, all a team, breaking bread together.
Sharing food is the ultimate form of communication. It’s the ultimate unifier. The best way to bring people together around food. It doesn’t matter where you sit or how you smell - let’s have lunch.
I was walking down the street by my credit union and I saw a sign that said something like Grow local or Invest local, I don’t know what it was, but it was encouraging people to take out a loan knowing that your loan was supporting local projects. It was highlighting a local farmer and it was just showing the farmer, it wasn’t showing the workers. The focus is the poster person. Even in ads at the local grocery - buy local BC - it’s a photo of a guy who owns the farm and is not working on the farm. That is not the farmer. BC blueberries and it’s some white collar guy who owns the farm, he’s not working on it, and he’s holding that beautiful box of blueberries.
