It's a lot more like putting an iPad and MacBook pre-loaded with Xcode, git, other handy software, iTunes U courses, and a list of primary research & resource URLs with step-by-step directions for signing up to free & prepaid services.
While such "in-a-box" products are obviously limited & biased, they are a tremendously useful starting point for people who want to begin an endeavor but don't know where to start, don't want to get bogged down in selecting basic tools/services they don't yet understand, and don't yet know even the "well anyone who knows anything about XYZ knows you need at least a ABC and a PDQ" stuff.
Of course the contents are imperfect. BUT IT'S A START. Give someone what they need for a sensible starting point, then they can soon learn what they need to head in the direction they decide to go (after they know enough to understand what the options really are).
$50,000 is pretty expensive for "a start". That is the price of a decent farmhand in the Midwest (for a year, maybe two if you don't like him so much) and probably a huge plot of land and a few employees in poor countries.
I probably spent $50k in my first two years on my farm.
* 30 HP tractor - $14k
* brushhog, back blade, cone spreader, log splitter - $3k
* 1,000 ft^2 greenhouse - $5k
* water to greenhouse - $5k
* haying equipment (baler, tedder, disk mower, rake) - $5.5k
* buckets, pails, tubs, lights, etc for livestock - $1k
* hoses, hand tools, etc. - $1k
* drip irrigation, raised beds, soil tests, etc. - $1k
* fencing materials - $5k
I could keep going down the list, but even just barely starting, I'm sure that the $50k number is correct.
Obviously, this package doesn't include haying equipment or chicken egg incubators or chicken feather removal machine, but I can easily imagine how you could spend $50k.
I have 2 acres, crops, fowl, livestock. No log splitter. I borrow the hay equipment. The tractor is practically a must. It's easy to own 2 acres. Making it useful requires equipment or many persons of manual labor. a 25-30 hp tractor is very reasonable.
Yeah, I've hand tilled a tiny patch of ground. It's a lot of work. I think my next step would have been begging one of the neighbors to come in with their hobby tractor though.
While such "in-a-box" products are obviously limited & biased, they are a tremendously useful starting point for people who want to begin an endeavor but don't know where to start, don't want to get bogged down in selecting basic tools/services they don't yet understand, and don't yet know even the "well anyone who knows anything about XYZ knows you need at least a ABC and a PDQ" stuff.
Of course the contents are imperfect. BUT IT'S A START. Give someone what they need for a sensible starting point, then they can soon learn what they need to head in the direction they decide to go (after they know enough to understand what the options really are).