Growing a farmer Final Thoughts

As a finally finished the book "Growing a Farmer" by Kurt Timmermeister I can post my final thoughts about it.

The book definitely taught me something I'm going to remember later in my life. Sometimes we're afraid to change something just because it's giving as success and wealth, even if we don't really like what we're doing. By leaving its successful business, the author shows us that change to better is possible at any point in life. Transitions, of course, are never easy, and they require time and willingness to stand up every time we fall. Kurt took time to figure out how and what to sell, but - quoting Journey - he never stopped believing. He always kept a positive attitude in what he was doing and that turned out to be the successful plan. Once reminded I was reminded to never stop at the first obstacle, but rather try to take every challenge as a way to confront yourself and improve.

Another issue that I saw presented in the book was ethics around food. Being Italian we always brag to have the best food in the world (we actually do). For what I've seen in my international experience is that we don't have secret recipes impossible to replicate. Many emigrants brought Italian traditions all around the globe. What they couldn't bring with themselves were fresh and quality ingredients. It's not hard to make a pizza, but the quality of ingredients will make the difference in the final product. I really appreciated the way the author put his pride in the food, not feeding animals with something that would have reduced the quality of the meat and eventually be harmful for humans. German philosopher Feurbach once said "We are what we eat". By choosing to treat his animals the same way he would treat himself the author made a great choice, the same we should use every day when we choose what to eat, preferring local, fresh food to industrialized products.

This book was really pleasant to read, and I would advise it to everybody who is interested in knowing more about how you can have a successful life selling cheese and being happy with what he does.