What We’re Up to This Summer

By Sarah and Athena

Hey there!

We thought we’d share a little about what JAR Farms is and how we are going to start showing up in the world, and hopefully making life better for Gen Z and Generation Alpha.

First of all, who am I? I am Sarah Lacy, and I was an investigative journalist for decades, three-time author, and three-time entrepreneur. These days, I co-own an incredible (and very profitable!) bookstore in Southern California, and I’ve got a handful of clients in Silicon Valley that I’m helping with intersections of community and content and developing a sense of meaning and mission. One of those is JAR Farms, so I’ll be writing to you from time to time about what is going on here and what we are learning. (In particular, what I am learning from this incredible generation!)

I fell in love with JAR, because Kristen Koh and I have been friends for a long time, and have both lived the ups and downs of being working moms with emotionally big children and extremely demanding careers in Silicon Valley.

JAR Farms is a nine-acre property in Coastal Marin that is literally owned by her three kids, Jack, Athena, and Rex (hence the name).

They were inspired to use the property to give back to their community and world and try to find ways to heal as a generation that’s inherited a deteriorating planet, was the unfortunate patient zero of growing up with social media and iPhones, and endured the isolation and stress of Covid during crucial high school years.

The Washington Post recently added another hit to that list: Greater economic woes than even Millennials experienced. Here’s what they wrote in a super uplifting article for those of us already concerned about our Gen Z’ers:

“Move over, millennials. There’s a new generation being walloped by the economy. Generation Z has been disproportionately pummeled by rising prices, higher housing costs, larger student loan balances, and more overall debt than the millennials before them.”

This generation is paying disproportionately more for basic expenses like rent, is the first generation where recent college grads are more likely to be unemployed than the general population, and one in seven Gen Z’ers have maxed out credit cards.

Clearly in the Bay Area, there’s a lot of affluence, and many kids from Marin, San Francisco, and the Peninsula won’t be facing the same economic challenges as their peers. Many may not ever have to work.

But that’s its own problem, too. Work is about a lot more than paying rent. It’s about contributing, finding your path, finding your own genius, and standing on your own two feet.

One of the things I’ve learned from the teens and young adults who are part of JAR Farms is how part of this generation’s anxiety and loss of sense of self is about not having to do anything.

DoorDash can bring you food; Uber and Lyft mean you don’t have to learn to drive. When everything is at the push of a button, we’re looking perilously close to those rotund people from Wall-E who drink their meals from a cup and float around in pods.

That’s why a hallmark of JAR Farms is doing. Sometimes doing with an end goal in mind, and sometimes doing for the sake of doing.

What actions can you take every day to make the planet a little more sustainable?

What can you learn to do yourself with your hands instead of buying it?

What big audacious jump-off-the-cliff risks can you take while you are young?

Gen Z has inherited a world wildly different than any generation in modern times. It’s time for them to try new things to remake it and leave it better than they found it (and time for us to let them. . .).

Each week in this space, you’ll hear more about where we are on this journey. We’ll be launching a podcast project tentatively called, “The Deep End” about making those big scary moves, hosted by Nick. Athena is sharing DIY projects that fill her and her friends up, while also making the planet slightly less screwed. Jack is working on the gardens and starting some new construction projects this summer to make the farm an even more idyllic place to visit. Rex opens and closes our community bike shop each day: Restocking the fruit and water, and collecting all the incredible notes hikers and bikers leave us. (Big news on the bike stop coming soon!!)

These teens and young adults have two choices: Accept the hand they’ve been dealt or take small actions every day to change it.