Mind Your Melon recently hosted an event at Southern Hill Farms in Clermont, Florida, to share some insights on a mental health survey and to inform attendees about future plans for the program.
Marshal and Taylor Sewell founded Mind Your Melon to raise awareness of mental health issues among farmers and others involved in agriculture. Marshal’s father took his life in 2007 after a strawberry crop failure on the family farm in Plant City, Florida.
In 2022, Mind Your Melon began to move from a concept to an actual program. Since that time, a podcast focusing on mental health has been developed along with a website that provides various mental health resources. And the couple hit the road to speak at various events.
As the journey to develop the program progressed, the Sewells realized there was a missing link in the lack of data about farmers’ mental health. So, among Mind Your Melon’s first major initiatives was to conduct a survey of Florida growers to help create a baseline of mental health data.
During the event, some of that data was shared. Top stressors listed by survey respondents, not surprisingly, included weather and natural disasters. But the lack of public understanding about the unique challenges farmers face and misconceptions about farming were also high on the list.
About 67% of respondents noted that they sometimes feel sad or depressed, but 52% had never visited a mental health professional. Respondents noted that social groups and church counseling were the resources they would most likely turn to for mental health help. That underscores the importance of the community in agriculture.
Taylor, Mind Your Melon executive director, told attendees the program will continue to evaluate its role as a leader in agricultural mental health and seek new collaborations with other institutions going forward. Mind Your Melon will also aim to create more mental health resources dedicated to the unique needs of farmers. In addition, the program is developing a high-tech means of training individuals who could act as mental health champions in local communities.
The full survey results will be available soon on the Mind Your Melon website.
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