The Rural Voice, 1990-04, Page 7r
FEEDBACK
Remember the Land:
It is with nostalgia that those of us old
enough to look back 20, 30, or 40 years
remember how it was (and we know how
it now is). The good old days ... when we
were not so hard on the environment, when
life was slower. Truly, what has happened
to rural life? Gone with the wind? Can we
see a retum, a retum to mixed farming?
Surely from an environmental point of
view it would be a good thing. A typical
farm was once populated by a dozen or so
cows and their offspring and about a hun-
dred pigs of various sizes and descriptions.
The farmer's wife usually looked after a
flock of hens and chicks. Up and down the
concessions, it was much the same. A way
of life. Not a money -making venture real-
ly, but a way of life. Closely tied to the
soil. Tara. Those of us familiar with the
movie Gone with the Wind, we know that
after all the scheming and living is done,
there remains Tara, the land. What shape
will that land be in? Will it be eroded,
poisoned by irresponsible stewardship?
I had the opportunity some years ago
to visit the coastal land in South Carolina
and Georgia — the land Gone with the
Wind was based on. And sad to say, much
of that land lies fallow now, covered with
reeds and tall grass, no longer producing
any rice or indigo. To be sure, there was
much inequity there. Slavery is unaccept-
able. Yet in many ways the descendants of
those slaves are not enjoying the good life
today either, not to mention the waste of
the vast land resource in that area.
When we look about us in the farming
sector today, we also see much inequity.
Farmers work long hours and have great
difficulty making ends meet. And there
are the ever-present crackers of the whip.
Produce more, they say, become more effi-
cient. And they hold up those who for a
time are successful.
But they conveniently forget that we
have overproduced, and the marketplace
is saturated. It must become obvious to
thoughtful farmers that ever-increasing
productivity leads to ever-increasing
problems. How do we as fanners stop this
madness? There is a solution. Slow down.
Scale down. Overcome the temptation to
ever more, ever bigger. Remember that
there is no U -Haul behind a hearse.
We as farmers must discourage those
who are foolish and greedy. After all is
said and done, there remains Tara, the
land. When our generation has come and
gone, will the way of life that was good —
good for the land, good for the rural man,
woman, and child — be gone? Gone with
the wind? It is up to you and me.0
Sid VanderHeide
R. R. 2, Mitchell
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APRIL 1990 3