Farming the Parking Lots?
GUEST: Jeff Herman Editor in Chief Lawn Starter
Michael Olson’s Food Chain Radio Show #1310, April 2, 2022
I once worked as a story producer for NBC Magazine with David Brinkley. One story we told was about the “survivalists” who believe the economy is going to collapse and so move more than one tank of gas from the nearest big city, where they arm themselves with defensive weapons, store up canned foods, and hunker down to wait. Our story was titled, “Armed for Armageddon.”
To get our establishing shot we took the network camera and talent to a hilltop overlooking the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon. “Beyond you can see the Rogue Valley,” the talent announced. “This is where the survivalists hang out.”
What we saw, looking down from that hilltop, was that the beautiful farmland of the valley had been subdivided into small ranchettes. But what captured my attention was that nobody seemed to be growing crops!
On an impulse I turned to Nancy Tappan, who published a newsletter for the survivalist community, and said, “Nancy, we should write a pamphlet on how to make money by farming those small parcels of land down there.”
A month later Nancy called and said, “Michael, I sold your book!”
