Essex County Farmers Kristin and Mark Kimball Share Secrets of ‘The Dirty Life’ at Hamilton College [VIDEO]

It does not appear that there is anything dirty about two former downstaters, but Kristin and Mark Kimball would be the first to admit that their lifestyle now is pretty seedy.

The couple, who now proudly call Essex County their home, proudly grow more than forty different vegetables, flowers, fruits, and herbs at Essex Farm.

Both will be speaking at Hamilton College tonight but they took time this morning to join WIBX First News with Keeler:

They agree that they do not look like your typical farmers and proudly acknowledge that they are first generation tillers of the land.  And they say that they want everyone they meet to join them.

Kristin, who had moved to New York City to pursue a literary career, is a graduate of Rome Free Academy.  Her husband Mark, who grew up in the Catskills, got her hooked on farming after he took a life-changing bicycle trip visiting farms all around the country while he was in college.

Kristin, who wrote, "The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love," says, "...I think there's a shift going on right now...in the way that...government thinks about small farms, partly because it's consumer-driven...The more people go out and ask for food that's coming from small farms the more your representatives are going to listen to you, but we've gotten really good support from the USDA in helping build our infrastructure..."

The challenges faced by farmers are one thing that has not changed.  Mark adds, "We pay close to forty thousand dollars a year on employee taxes.  So, for a farm like ours, that's more than Kristin and I make on some years...So there is a lot of, I think, tension between pro-government, where we are being supported by the USDA and other programs, and by obviously our local members, but also the cost of being a small business in upstate New York can drive you crazy on a bad day."

That being said, Mark adds, "It is my evangelical desire to turn everyone into a farmer.  Period."

The talk tonight (March 10, 2015) is entitled, "Food Ethics: A Farmer's Perspective."  It begins at 7:30pm at the Taylor Science Center's Kennedy Auditorium.   It is free and open to the public.  For information call: (315) 859.4011.

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