Plants are people, too!

I named this blog Doctor to Farmer, but the more I think about it, perhaps Doctor and Farmer is a more appropriate name.  I am, and always will be, a doctor.  I think like a doctor.  I can use words that only other doctors understand.  Even if I wanted to (and I don't), I couldn't stop being a doctor--it is part of who I am.

So how can I reconcile my "doctorness" with my choice to become a farmer?  Am I splitting my soul, like Voldemort making horcruxes?  I don't think so.  In my mind, being an organic farmer is completely consistent with being a doctor.  Doctors care about human health.  They treat people when they get sick, and many try to prevent people from getting sick in the first place.  Organic farmers care about health, human and environmental.  They grow fruits and vegetables that are critical in preventing chronic diseases in humans.  They create environments that support plant health to keep their plants and animals from getting sick in the first place, and treat the soil, plants, and animals when they do get sick.

Mitt Romney has gotten a lot of flack lately for his claim that corporations are people, too (listen to John McCutcheon's barbs for a good laugh), but at the risk of be similarly mocked, I present Exhibit A, Plant Man, in support of this post's title, "Plants are people, too!"  I do this more to convince myself than all of you that my decades of medical education and training aren't being wasted on tomatoes and broccoli.


Exhibit A

Gross Anatomy for Doctor-Farmers
Cabbage head
Kiwi hair
Potato eyes
Corn ears
Artichoke heart
Kidney beans
Rose hips
Tree trunk
Tree limbs
Fingerling potatoes


























All kidding aside, I really do feel that my adventure in farming is a continuation of my public health practice, and I have chosen to apprentice at a farm that shares this belief.  Soil Born Farms' mission statement,

"Our mission is to create an urban agriculture and education project that empowers youth and adults to discover and participate in a local food system that encourages healthy living, nurtures the environment and grows a sustainable community."

is a testament to everything I have been working for in my two years of leading the Health in All Policies Task Force, and I am excited to become a doctor and a farmer there.