The Rural Voice, 2002-01, Page 14BARN
RENOVATIONS
• Renovations to farm
buildings
• Concrete Work
• Manure Tanks
• Using a Bobcat Skid Steer
w/hydraulic hammer,
bucket, six -way blade &
backhoe
BEUERMANN
CONSTRUCTION
R.R. #5 BRUSSELS
519-887-9598
Diamond Bar Gates
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As 1
Til MAI f
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Super
Heavy Duty
Hay
Feeders
Hay
Grain
Feeders
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PO
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R.R. #3 Flesherton
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519-924-0578
10 THE RURAL VOICE
Jeffrey Carter
Farmer, meet consumer
There is a need for farmers to
educate consumers about agriculture.
Despite heroic efforts in this
direction, ignorance continues to hold
sway in many circles. Most folks are
removed from the farm by a
generation or
more. The
closest they get
to where food is
actually
produced is the
grocery store
aisle.
' So some
people continue
to insist
chocolate milk
comes from
brown cows. For
others, semen are
the fellows
Farmers need to
know more about
consumers
you'll find
operating an ocean liner.
The whole scenario can be turned
on its ear, I think, and the solution
lies with education, but it's not just
consumers who need to return to
school.
Many farmers have much to learn
as well. That's right. Enlightened
consumers need to educate the
farmers. It's like the scientific
equation: if something is pushing in
one direction, something else is
pushing just as hard the opposite
way.
Here are three things farmers may
wish to consider:
• Not all consumers are.ill-informed.
While some believe chocolate milk
comes from brown cows, others see
through the corporate campaigns
designed to win them over to new
agricultural technologies — such as
the injection of artificial growth
hormones into dairy cows — for the
money grab they are.
• Most consumers care about the
people who produce food. They're
not about bring along a roll of
"Royale" and clean up after your
mess but they do like and appreciate
farmers and the family farm.
• There is a small but growing
segment of society looking for
change in the food system. How else
can you explain the rapid growth in
the organic food industry? Or the rise
of vegetarianism among young
people?
This is a segment of the
population, small yet growing, with
which farmers may be able to ally
themselves. There's a feeling among
both groups of dissatisfaction and
both are looking for solutions.
I think, in this, the family farm is
viewed as a cornerstone. I know farm
families hold this basic unit of
production in their hearts and people
like Debbie Field of Toronto
FoodShare is making many of the
right noises.
Field has a lot to offer to farmers
who are willing to listen. Her words, -
I think, demonstrate that farmers need
to learn, as much as they need to
educate.
Field says there are problems in
the distribution of both food and the
wealth that food production
generates. At one of end of the chain
there are people who are hungry. At
the other are farmers who struggle
financially. The two problems are
related, she says.
Field made other connections at a
recent meeting in London. Something
that all consumers should consider is
that their eating habits may be killing
them.
The food that leaves a farmer's
field or barn can generally be viewed
as healthy. The fast food culture of
North America is not.
The solution to the food system
concerns lies in bringing consumers
and farmers together. On their own,
their positions are weak. Together,
they can set the food agenda for their
mutual benefit.0
Jeffrey Carter is a freelance
journalist based in Dresden, Ontario.
Letters may be sent to P.O. Box
1207, Dresden, Ontario, NOP IMO or
to this magazine.
The Rural Voice
welcomes letters
to the editor