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This article analyses the renewal of the cultural, political and economic frameworks of the imaginary worlds of aspiring farmers. It focuses on a particular group of people: those who want to make farming their career, breaking with the back-to-the-land approach of the 1970s. These projects are caught between several ideals: self-fulfilment, running an alternative farming business to change society, transforming farming methods towards agro-ecology, food and energy self-sufficiency. The archetype is the small-scale farm, which performs well in environmental, social and economic terms. They take on board the demands for economic viability made by the professional organisations and associations from which they seek support. But, for their part, the structures that help farmers set up struggle to understand their needs and to support them at a time when the number of farmers is plummeting.