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In reference to a comment in the April 19 ‘You Said It’:
To the person who thinks farmers are nasty, one question, who do you think puts the food on your table?
Go back to Boulder or New York. We can do without you in our valley.
MARIE NEUBERGER
Grand Junction
13 Responses to “Those who bash farmers should leave our valley”
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 1:10 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
I’m sure that we could even find a few people to pack their bags for them, I’m volunteering!
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
This is a fabulous idea, Jen - let’s all go together and tour some of the progessive, low-impact organic farms around Boulder; then hit NYC where they’ve pioneered roof-top gardens and community gardens to assist the less fortunate and feed some locals.
Maybe we’ll even learn some new ideas about agriculture by venturing more than 20 miles out of our bubble of hatred & ignorance!
Are you buying all your meat from local providers (some good stuff from N. Fork & Gunnison Valleys) to support those neighbor ranchers? Did you purchase your fruit & produce shares, yet, in order to support our own CSA (community-supported agriculture) project in Palisade (Cameron Farms)? Are you swillin’ & supportin’ the local brewers & craft distillers?
Hell yes - Support Local Agriculure! (and, get over your fascination with Boulder & NYC at the same time)
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 1:50 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Um, the You Said It “farmer basher” was being satirical.
But the raging “go back to Boulder” sentiment I’m sure is real. Mean, nasty, and real.
I lived in Boulder for awhile (as well as Estes Park). My husband grew up in Boulder, and my in laws still live there. We moved to Grand Junction nine years ago to start a new life as a couple in a place where we both felt at home; amid the desolate beauty of the high desert.
We take good care of the little old house we bought here. We are good to our neighbors, especially the elderly. We volunteer. We ride bikes a lot, recycle, and buy locally when possible.
Yet you Jen, and many others I’m sure, want us to Go Back to Boulder. Very nice.
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 1:59 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Actually Chancho, buy my beef from a local farmer and have it butchered locally as well, the guy on D Road does a fantastic job!! Fruits and veggies come from Palisade or my own garden. Next question! By the way, dont drink!
Ashhugger, I dont care who moves here as long as they dont want everyone else to change to their way of life. I think that maybe Marie used Boulder as an example.
And yes, sometimes I get VERY defensive and maybe even hateful, if I moved to your neck of the woods and constantly put down your way of life and tried to let you know how to make it better…..you might get a little fussy too!!!!
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 2:09 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Jen, remember the people who were writing letters bashing farmers for burning? I was right in there defending the farmers. I do not tell “the natives” to change their ways. I hugely appreciate small farmers and ranchers especially.
Back to those letters. Did you actually read the April 19 You Said It comment? It was clearly a sarcastic remark aimed at those who were criticizing the farmers in past weeks. In other words the You Said It commenter was actually defending the farmers. If you read it you’ll see what I mean.
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 2:52 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
ashhugger……I did try to find that comment in the archives but couldnt, I will admit that I may have jumped a little soon. To anyone trying to defend the local farm and ranch industry, I say thank you. To anyone bashing it, well you probably dont want to know what I say.
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 2:57 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Ah, OK well I found the comment so here it is …
“I’m so mad I could spit! Those nasty farmers who are always burning ditches and block my view with their old tractors and pickups, have plowed their fields. The wind came up and I couldn’t see the mountains and my house is so dirty from the dust. Why do they have to plow anyway? I think I might just move back to Boulder or maybe New Yawk City where the real people are.”
You don’t think it’s possible this person is NOT being sarcastic, do you? If not that would be really bad!
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 3:07 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Got it. Yes I think this person was being sarcastic, unfortunately, I really can see some people having these thoughts…….seriously. Thanks for finding it.
Posted April 24th, 2008 at 3:08 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
No problem
Posted April 25th, 2008 at 4:58 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
It is very refreshing to see someone speaking up for our way of life here. I have been here all my life (60+) and I stayed because the MAJORITY of the people here voted and lived the way my family and I did. My children grew up here and I still love it. My neighbors have horses and goats and sheep and sometimes cows. I love the place. So to all those who move in and then want to change it into what they just moved away from, my question is WHY? If you liked where you were, why did you move here?
Posted April 25th, 2008 at 6:28 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
In the initial letter, Ms. Marie Newberger “complains” that some come here, try to change the way people live and that they should “go back where they came from.” There are undoubtedly some who do. And that may be because they expect to find the amenities they had in large cities then are disappointed when they don’t get them. Others, being from “large” cities, believe they “know better”, just because of the size of the city. What one quite frequently finds is that many were “running away” from the problems they were responsible for creating in their past community. Unfortunately, some even brought all of their emotional baggage with them, something they should have discarded first. Fortunately, some of us became familiar with “country living” before we came here and learned that “You don’t argue with a combine. You will lose.” The other part of it is that one gets to know people. Those who move here must respect the views of those here longer, but that is not a “one way street.”
The fault however is not all on one side. The so-called “natives” also share in the blame by expecting everyone who moves here will change and become as they are, even to adopting all of their views and “believing” as they do. That is not only impossible, it is ridiculous to expect as much. Long time residents also like the financial “benefits” they get from people moving here, but either cannot recognize or accept the fact that with such “growth” also arise challenges. Denying that they do is denial of reality. The world changes. What is needed is first the recognition that change is inevitable, second that if that change is to be beneficial (or at least not destructive) one must plan for it. Denial or “pining for the past” does nothing. The past is gone, we live in the present, and have to plan for the future. Unfortunately, sometimes the greed of a few gets in the way of the latter.
As far as the “go back to where you came from” argument used by the so-called “natives”, may I respectfully suggest that a “citizen” is a “citizen” whether a resident 60 years or 60 days. And both those who move in, as well as those who are “native” need to “cool it.”
There is no “degree” to citizenship, and one has every right to speak, to vote, and ownership to their property. “Natives” have no more claim to local governments and do not own it. Their “ownership” stops at the borders of their own property, just as someone who is not a “native.” Neither, do I find, that “natives” have any more knowledge of what is happening, even locally in their government.
New arrivals almost always bring new ideas. Some are “good” and some “not so good.” Some deal with the personal, and some have to do with public policy. The former are nobody’s business but their own, and the latter are everbody’s business. The intelligent person will learn and know to distinguish between the two and that will eliminate much disagreement and conflict.
“Back to the Future” is a science fiction movie. It is not reality.
Posted April 25th, 2008 at 7:34 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
I’m a transplant from a really long time ago.
I came here for the work available, and the courtesy and respect the “natives” showed me.
I returned the courtesy and respect with a good heart.
Things sure have changed.
People have no respect for the other occupants in the Valley.
It’s visible in the stores, on the streets, in city parks, just about anyplace you find 3 or more people you will find rude, obnoxious behavior.
For no reason, other than that’s the way some people feel like treating others.
So, when I tell somebody to go back where they came from, I mean they can take their nasty attitude with them.
Or maybe the reason they are here is because nobody liked them “back home”.
HUH! Fancy that!
Posted April 26th, 2008 at 5:18 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
There is a tasty salad we get sometimes from the City Market Deli. My husband remarked last night, “It’s surprising they get anyone to buy it because of its name” — Boulder Slaw.
I said they need to name it “Go Back to Boulder Slaw.”
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