Agriculture Gets a New Outlook in Appalachia

Agriculture Gets a New Outlook in Appalachia

Reporting and photography by Darcy Kiefel Story by Jill Bayles

“There’s a song about Harlan County that says you’ll never leave it alive.”

And Lew Jones, a high school vocational instructor in this eastern Kentucky coal-mining county – nicknamed “Bloody Harlan” after a hard-fought 1931 miners’ strike – added that he’s seen kids still behave as if these lyrics are true.

“They’ve been told that they’ll never amount to nothing,” he said. “They’ve never had a hope or a dream.”

Until Heifer International came along.

Molding a New Generation

For decades, coal put food on the tables of almost every Harlan County family. Although the life was hard and unhealthy, the paycheck was steady. But as machinery began replacing manpower under the ground, children watched as their parents went from the coal mine to the job line.

“Coal mining is no longer the future,” said Jeremy Williams, the agriculture extension agent for Harlan County. “Most of our people have become unemployed, [and] our population has decreased from 50,000 to 31,000 over the last 15 years because of this ‘boom to bust.’”

That’s why Heifer ’s Appalachia Program has joined forces with community members in eastern Kentucky counties like Harlan, Menifee Morgan and Carter to give youth a new future by way of a past occupation: Small-scale agriculture.

Through Heifer’s a lternative agriculture and small farms projects, small-scale farming isn’t just being revived as an industry – it’s also being used as a tool to mold a new generation of responsible citizens.

“Heifer’s goal is to make rural lives easier through sustainability,” said Steve Muntz, Heifer’s U.S. Country Director and a resident of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. “I’ve met some of the best people with the best ideas in the rural areas,” he added, “and we want to encourage those ideas.”

“A Chance for Another Start”

The Alternative Agriculture Project helps youth develop strong work ethics and entrepreneurial skills by teaching them how to grow high-quality foods while focusing on environmental and sustainability issues.

Goats, bees, poultry, vegetables and even red-claw crawdads are produced and marketed by students, who then train adults in their communities as part of their overall hands-on learning experience and promise to fulfill Heifer’s Passing on the Gift cornerstone.

“Our students are learning how to live a good life surviving on what they can grow for themselves,” Williams said.

Mark Baker, 16, is one of those students.

“Heifer’s staff and Mr. Jones put their whole heart and soul into this project,” he said. “Before this program, I just goofed off, skipped classes and had no direction. Today, I want to learn more, and I have my goats to care for.”

His friend John Swanson, also 16, agrees.

“I was lost before this program,” he said. “I could have gone in the wrong direction, but I was curious about the classes offered. Heifer International,” he added, “has given us a shot in the dark.”

Now Mark and John are enthusiastically passing on what they’ve learned to others.

“Many of us students preach the word around the community and tell people they have a chance for another start,” Mark said. “We encourage them to join, and learn and experience. For me,” he added, “it’s been life-changing.”