Essay of Choice

Photo courtesy of blackislandfarms.com

In today’s ever increasing digital age, the magic of a farm and its activities has been tossed aside while the magic of computers, tablets, and video games are worshiped among America’s youth today. This has been a problem for years, as Henry David Thoreau faced a similar experience more than a century ago. In 1854 Thoreau conducted an experiment while squatting for two years at Walden Pond in Massachusetts.  His purpose behind was to find "the gross necessities of life, [and] reject society’s growing interest in technology and materialism (Kinkead, Funda, & McNeill 68).” Although most people aren’t able to perform an experiment like Thoreau’s, they too seek for a way to reconnect with what’s most important in life and nature, and to find an escape from the ever-constant technology. Luckily a farm in Davis County, Utah is helping the masses return to the country and escape the distractions of our noisy world, and allowing nature to teach what’s most important in life- faith, family, and hard work- in a hands-on way.

                In an effort to bolster additional financial support and bring a community together, Black Island Farms, a family farmed owned and operated in Syracuse, Utah since 1960, has created a fall festival that is bringing people of all ages and walks of life together.  Through their venture into “agri-tainment” and “agri-tourism”, Black Island Farms is helping thousands each year to get outside into nature, have some fun, and discovering the magic of farm life.

                Black Island Farms began as a vegetable farm whose main crops included: pumpkins, squash, gourds, onions, carrots, cabbage, and corn. While the farm continues to grow, and sell these crops each year, the business is also growing. Each Fall Festival boasts a variety of wonderful attractions for people of all ages. Some of them include: the animal alley, pig races, the grain shoot slide, bonfires, live music, the cow train, face painting, haunted houses, farm hayrides, and many more. Their biggest and most notable attraction is, hands down, their corn mazes. They have different mazes, each with its own level of difficulty, that combined sit on twenty-six acres, the largest in the state of Utah.

I have grown up going to this farm for years. I’ve gone as a child with my family, with our church as part of the young women’s program, with friends, and even on high school dates. This festival is a wholesome place where everyone can find something to enjoy. As I’ve gotten lost in the mazes over the years, I have come to appreciate nature and the work of farmers a lot. It’s a wonderful way for me to feel connected to agriculture, and that I’m part of something bigger. Most of the tourists that come to the farm aren’t involved in agriculture directly, but this festival helps people and myself realize just how important farming is in our community and show our gratitude to the farmers by purchasing their crops and activities. Thanks to Black Island Farms, I, along with thousands of others, are able to live and appreciate the American dream, every time we attend their Fall Festival.

Works Cited

Black Island Farms. Web. 24 Apr. 2017. <http://www.blackislandfarms.com/>.

Kinkead, Joyce, Evelyn Funda, and Lynne S. McNeill. Farm: a multi-modal reader. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press, 2014. Print.