The first half of Growing a Farmer was very interesting and allowed me to learn a lot about the farming industry. I enjoyed getting a history of Kurt Timmermeister's initial career as a baker/cafe owner. I love that he came from humble beginnings and slowly began to expand his business. There is a certain sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that you get knowing that you built something from the ground up!
I was caught off guard when Kurt expressed his interest in moving towards the suburbs/countryside and buying a farm (a very risky move)! This is not something that most people with a successful business in a large city would do. Nevertheless, I admire that he followed his true passions and embraced the obstacles and struggles he faced during his journey. While reading this book, I began to think more deeply about where my food comes from. In addition, reading this book has caused me to become more curious about how produce is grown and where my poultry comes from. Most of the time, we tend to just go to the market and buy our food and leave...We never really think about how much time, labor and planning goes on in getting the food from from the farm to the table! As a business student, I especially enjoyed Kurt's comparison between the local farmers' market and the New York Stock Exchange:
"A local farmers' market is really no different than the New York Stock Exchange or a large suburban mall. Sellers want to make themes money by selling at the highest price with the least expense. The basic method for achieving a high price is by selling unique products, through being either later or earlier than everyone else, or by having higher-quality products" (Growing a Farmer 46).
This book really made me think about my future career path. With graduation being about three months away, I feel a whole mix of emotions-happy, sad, grateful, anxious, excited! I feel especially torn about the career which I will pursue in the future. I love both the real estate and entertainment industries, however I have to figure out if there's anyway to combine these two passions. Both industries present their own risks but I think that it'll be great to get some experience in finance in order to have a better understanding of how investments work. Some days I gravitate more towards one industry than the other. I truly hope that I will have a career that I love in the future!
Finally, reading the "About the Author" page allowed me to put this story into context. It comes as no surprise that Kurt fell in love with the culinary/restaurant industry given that he went to school in France!!! I admire his entrepreneurial spirit and his initiative to gain a lot of work experience at a young age before venturing out on his own.
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