But It's Honest Work

About

But It's Honest Work is a reaction image macro series featuring a photograph of a farmer named Dave Brandt saying "It ain't much, but it's honest work." After appearing in 2014, the meme format spread online, particularly on Reddit during the late 2010s.

Origin

On October 10th, 2014, the United States Department of Agriculture^[1] posted an article entitled "Soil Health Campaign Turns Two: Seeks to Unlock Benefits on- and off-the-Farm." The article features a photograph of Ohio farmer and "soil health pioneer" David Brandt (shown below, left).

Four years later, on December 15th, 2018, Redditor ^[2] pettergra posted the image in the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit, adding the text, "It ain't much but it's honest work." They captioned the image, "When you post OC and get 10 upvotes instead of reposting for thousands." The post received more than 18,000 points (85% upvoted) and 130 comments in three weeks (shown below, right).

Spread

On January 3rd, 2018, Redditor^[3] yothisisyo posted a variation, which moved the text to the bottom of the image. They added the caption "When your teacher asks you why you have submitted only one paper of 20 paper homework." The post received more than 11,000 points (97% upvoted) in 24 hours (shown below).

Death

On May 21st, 2023, it was announced that Dave Brandt had died as a result of injuries received while working the field on May 20th. His death sent shockwaves through not one, but two communities, as he was even more influential and impactful in the world of no-till low impact agriculture than he was in memes. On May 22nd, 2023, the Redditor Stepbro_canhelp^[4] uploaded a memorial post where various other memes welcomed him into heaven, earning over 44,000 likes in 12 hours (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References