Title: Are There Good Reasons for Being a Farmer? | AHA
Headings: Are There Good Reasons for Being a Farmer?
Are There Good Reasons for Being a Farmer?
Do farmers eat better?
Do farmers have better health?
Do farmers enjoy their work more?
Is family life better on the farm?
Do farmers earn less than city folk?

Content: He is more likely to rear a family and thereby promote the future welfare of the nation. Let us examine briefly each of these points. Do farmers eat better? As to the question of diet, Dr. Baker based his assertion on (1) a United States Department of Agriculture study, made in fairly prosperous times, of 2,400 farm families and (2) a study by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics of 12,000 workingmen’s families in cities. The farm families, it was found, were getting much more protein, calcium, phosphorous, and iron than was necessary for good nutrition. The city families, on the other hand, were getting barely enough protein and not enough calcium, phosphorous, and iron. The farm folk ate much more meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables—which they often produced themselves—than did the city folk, who depended more on cereals. Of course, city families with large incomes get more adequate food than workingmen’s families, but many farm people, if they moved to town, would undoubtedly fall into the latter class. Of course, there are farm families who do not get a rich and varied diet, even in prosperous times like the present. In some agricultural areas there are farmers who have no gardens and keep no livestock.