July 25, 2023

Farm stress: strategies and resources for dealing with the mental health repercussions of farm-related stress with Anne Schwartz and Rachel Van Boven

1 hour 9 minutes

Farming can be very stressful, and as we’ll discuss today there are recent studies that back this up. Chronic farm-related stress can lead to or exacerbate existing mental illnesses, and mental health care is harder to find in the rural areas where many farmers live. This is a huge topic, one that the USDA and others are actively tackling through multiple arms, and in this episode, host Katie Kulla has on two guests who can provide us some specific insight into farm stress, farmer mental illness and resources.

Anne Schwartz is a lifelong farmer. In 1979, she started Blue Heron Farm in Rockport, Washington, where she has grown a wide range of certified organic vegetables and fruits with a focus on berries. She has also served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for over 40 years.

Our other guest, Rachel Van Boven, has worked as a hotline operator with Farm Aid since 2021. She comes from a long line of farmers and worked on a handful of small farms and completed Viva Farms’ farmer training. She also trained to be a chaplain and completed a Masters in Theology with a focus on food justice and farming. She also coordinates a small community garden growing food for a mutual aid food justice project in Bellingham, Washington.

In this episode of Shop Talk, we talk about how to get perfectly clean cut greens as quickly as possible without bruising them and compromising shelf life. We discuss how to use a jacuzzi motor to make your own cut greens washer, and then how to move them and dry them efficiently.

In Shop Talk with Neversink Farm, we chat about new tools, old tools, how they can benefit your farm and tips to use them successfully with Conor Crickmore of Neversink Tools, which manufactures tools for farmers. Shop talk is a segment in every episode of the Growing for Market Podcast X Neversink Farm.

Thanks to our collaborator on this podcast Neversink Farm. They make this podcast free to everyone with their generous support. For tools designed and made by farmers, check out www.NeversinkTools.com

Connect With Guest:

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.farmaid.org/resources

Farm Aid Hotline: 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243)

Farm Aid Farmer Resource Network: https://www.farmaid.org/our-work/resources-for-farmers/

Crisis Lifeline (24 hours): call or text 988

Crisis Lifeline website: www.988lifeline.org

Download A FREE Magazine Issue:

Go To Growing For Market Magazine: www.GrowingForMarket.com

...more