food forms: zurich

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Kleinjogg
Everyone's favourite farmer

Jakob Guyer, Kleinjogg, 1718-1769

Jacob Guyer, called «Kleinjogg» was an innovative farmer in rural Zurich and was known for an exceptional personality. He gained prominence because of the «Physiokratische Gesellschaft» and fundamentally changed the agriculture of the 18th century. The «Physiokratische Gesellschaft» knew that Zurich as a growing city relied on the productivity of its agriculture and therefore pushed to increase agricultural yields for the good of the state. Kleinjogg is referred to as the perfect personification of the «Zwinglian work ethos». He also served as a figure for various ideologies: The natural romantics acknowledged his observation of nature, the economists saw his endurance, the moralists saw the moral. During Second World War he was turned into the symbol of the «Anbauschlacht» and in the 80s gained the prominence as «the first organic farmer», pioneer of composting and farmyard manure management. Some farmers‘ representatives call him the «first full-throttle farmer» and even «innovative farmer».

His farm was exemplary, as he had a pioneering vision how to treat soil, plants and animals, was not afraid to try other ways and further how to position himself within an ecosystem.



(1) - Schmid, Otto: Kleinjogg, Wegbereiter der modernen Landwirtschaft. Gedenkschrift zum 300. Geburtstag von Jakob Guyer, 2018.



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1 - Jacob Guyer, «Kleinjogg» 1718-1785, Portrait by J.R. Schellenberg