Down on the Farm

THE FARMER WANTS A LIFE!

Yes, I have succumbed to watching that television show and, although lightly entertaining, it does raise some serious questions about farming and the future of farming in our communities.

Farmers for many many years now have had the undesirable duty to deliver primary produce at a faster and faster rate but at a bargain basement price for the big processors and supermarkets. Nobody seemed to worry that the more ‘industrialized’ we became with mass-produced foods the greater the consequence to our communities and family futures. To my mind it’s gone too far and you don’t have to be Einstein to realize that when leafing through a VJ article from people who grew up and lived here as a child, that our communities are nothing like the villages they were way back when.

People say to me, ‘Well, I would buy organic ‘but it’s too expensive!” Or, I just don’t have the time to get to the organic market, so I do all my shopping in town at a set time. Well, as for too expensive, I think it’s too cheap and we need a reality check regarding how long it takes to grow food in a healthy environment. As for shopping for convenience, I have no problem with that – what I do have a problem with is the lack of interaction within that supermarket and the lack of quality and choice.

This type of buying or attitude to it has eaten away at the foundations of our village life and our farming futures. It undermines our appreciation of the skill, effort and expense that goes into producing our daily bread.

Fruit, vegetables and farm produce are seen as a disposable commodity and food is seen as something that should be ‘cheap’. Marketing has played a huge part in both these sentiments. So, where does that leave the farmer? Well, look at the community of Rosebank- the store has been in an ‘abyss’ so, no shop, no petrol, no papers, no daily interaction as the shop isn’t open; no organic vegetables as the local farmers haven’t any shop; no Xmas drinks, meals or kids parties; no tennis - it goes on and on!

Valiantly, with the unbridled enthusiasm of Lydia Kindred – all is not lost yet, hopefully the Rosebank Store’s re-opening signals a new era in priorities for the community. Farmers, cling on to that interaction with people at places like the store. The passing wave or ‘g’day’ from their neighbor or a traveler could be their only interaction with another human that day.

Yes, as far as I can see - many farmers around here would look to sell their farms after the work and age gets too much for them as their children do not want to inherit what is considered to be a hard and unappreciated career. If we could treat farmers more fairly, we could be entering the renaissance of Australian farming: and to discover this we must re-discover and respect the true value of the land and the food it produces.

On the positive side, young farmers are taking to sustainable and organic farming practices in droves but they are going to need support from their communities as bio-tech companies and agribusiness do not like it at all and so are doing their best to undermine this growth industry by pushing for money making schemes such as GM - regardless of the environmental or human cost.

I suppose the upside in all of this is that people are starting to ‘Think’ about something that in the past has not merited more than a passing consideration - that is ‘where our food comes from’ and who produces it. Let’s refocus on the true value of farming as a well-rewarded career in a diverse and sustainable sector, populated by a skilled and passionate workforce. Go and find a farmer and shake his hand for me!

All the best until next month!

Cath Ford

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