The Rural Voice, 1999-08, Page 16INDUSTRIAL &
FARM SUPPLIES
• Nuts & Bolts (all gracics)
• Hydraulic hose & fittings
• Belts • Bearings
• Grade 70 Transport Chain
• Roller Chain
• Tools
Brian Gibson
Springmount Industrial Park
519-376-0283 FAX 519-376-7202
BRUCE COUNTY
PLOWING MATCH
September 2 & 3
at the
Bruce County
Heritage
Association Farm
2 km S. of Paisley
on Cty. Rd. 3
NOON
BAR-B-QUE
Awards Presentation
after judging completed
President
Bill McCulloch
519-363-2700
For information or tractors
contact Bonnie or Roger Thorne
at 519-934-2202 or
Fax 519-934-3173
12 THE RURAL VOICE
Mabel's Grill
"What 1 want," said Cliff Murray
the other morning, "is some quality
assurance from the weatherman."
"Pardon?" asked Dave Winston.
"Well, I mean the milling
companies and the packing
companies
want me to
ship them farm
produce that's
all the same to
make their
food product
more precise. I
figure it would
be a lot easier
to do that if
my suppliers
would give me
uniform inputs
— like the
weather. I
mean it's nuts
when we're supposed to produce the
same product whether we get an inch
of rain for the whole summer or two
inches a day."
"I think you've got to talk to a lot
higher authority than the weather
man if you want the weather to co-
operate," said George McKenzie. "I
don't think He runs by the same rules
as Michael McCain and the other big
food moguls."
"I thought Michael McCain had
replaced the Big Fella," said Dave.
"He keeps giving us pork producers
the 10 commandments anyway."
"Yeh the packers like farming to
be turned into a factory," said Cliff.
"Everything controlled. Cows that
never see pasture, pigs and chickens
that never see the light of day until
they get shipped. They want to keep
it as much like an assembly line as
possible."
"So what do you do with corn and
soybeans?," wondered George.
"I figure they'll have huge
buildings that grow crops
hydroponically under grow -lights 12
months a year," said Cliff.
"I don't want to eat food from a
factory," said Molly Whiteside. "You
guys are making me want to buy my
food from organic farmers."
"I think my neighbour is an
organic farmer," said Dave. "He's
got free-range cows — they're
always free ranging into my corn and
The world's
problems are
solved daily
'round the table
at Mabel's
soybeans."
"I always wondered about that
free range bit," said George. "I mean
how free is free? I don't know many
farmers who want their chickens
wandering all the way to the bush for
the foxes to get them. So if you put a
fence between them and the bush
does that mean they're free range, or
not free range? And if you're
allowed to have a fence, how much
room do you have to have inside the
fence? I mean once you've agreed
it's alright to put a fence around them
why not save the environment by
using Tess steel and making it small
enough to be a cage?"
"Now you're taking it to the
ridiculous extreme," said Cliff.
"It's not me that's being
ridiculous or extreme," said George.
"They're the ones who are splitting
hairs about what's permissible or not
permissible. I mean it's fine for them
to use Bt but not for me to use corn
that's got Bt in it."
"Everybody's got to have rules,"
said Molly.
"Like the Mennonites," said
George. "They're not allowed to
have a phone but they can use mine.
They're not allowed to have a car,
but they can take a ride to the auction
on the bus. They're not allowed to
have a tractor but they can use a
stationary engine to run the sawmill.
There's a way around every rule."
"All I know is I want some
assurance about my food," said
Molly.
"See, there's that assurance thing
again," said Cliff. "They don't want
spots on their lettuce or worms in
their apples and they want me to
guarantee I didn't harm a bug in
doing it. And of course it's supposed
to be cheap and there whenever they
want it, no matter whether it's
Noah's Ark time or it's dry as the
Sahara."
"I didn't say anything about no
worms in the apples," said Molly.
"You mean you don't mind if I
bring you in a basket of wormy
apples?" George asked.
"Well ... " said Molly.
"You see, I told you they wanted
it all ways," said Cliff.
"Yes Molly," said Dave, "It looks
like your worm has turned on you."0