The Rural Voice, 2004-03, Page 23unique food producers and
processors from the region.
He finds the change in his
visibility fascinating. John and
Thompson went to the organic
conference in Guelph in late January
and "as soon as we got in the door
there were people pointing at us and
grabbing a camera."
He chuckles when he recalls going
into a bar with his friend, movie,
television and stage star CoIm Feore
and some people didn't recognize
Feore but come up to John. But then
Feore can come back and talk about a
party he's been at with Ben Affleck.
"It put things in perspective," he
says. "This is my 15 minutes (of
fame). He's got a whole hour and a
half."
The celebrity among foodies
hasn't changed the farm and he
had hoped it wouldn't. "I was
very careful not to turn our farm into
an amusement park, tourist
destination because we are still a
working farm. I would rather sell our
product off the farm so we can let our
staff go about the jobs that they have
to do."
And the celebrity hasn't made the
farm any more profitable than
neighbours who might also be
struggling.
"My plans are to actually make
money at some point," he says. "It's
been a tough struggle financially. It's
very spiritually rewarding but we're
still trying to find a way to make it
financially rewarding."
Still, that spiritual rewarding side
of the business means something.
"My first goal would still be to be a
painter but I couldn't think of a more
rewarding second choice," he said. "I
think it's a privilege to be able to
own and be the steward of any plot of
land. 1 really do think its an honour
and there's not a day that goes by
that 1 don't see something change
about my little piece of land:
different species of birds arrive and
depart.— and 1 then mark that in my
journal."
Every day is different but nature
repeats itself year after year, he says
and he finds it fascinating that the
first tree swallows will come back
within the same two or three days
every year. "You really get an
understanding of what actually uses
your land within a year when you
watch the comings and goings. '0
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MARCH 2004 19