The Rural Voice, 1988-04, Page 27agriculture." But Allan also said:
"Whether a man winds up with a nest
egg or a goose egg depends on the
chick he marries."
That these "chicks" were more
than mere balls of fluff cheeping away
in barnyards was an image the Con-
cerned Farm Women had to crack.
In the fall of 1981, the CFW had
prepared a brief that documented the
psychological effects of financial
stress on the farm family. Presented
to a Federation of Agriculture task
force, it was dismissed as exaggera-
tion and hysteria.
If there had been a naive
expectation among these wives and
mothers that a sensible, sincere appeal
for help would somehow result in the
necessary aid to allow them to get
back to their primary job of dealing
with their own farms and families, it
was dispelled by this cynical dismissal
of their case. And yet, in retrospect,
this wall of doubt was the launch for a
piece of work that will take its place in
the social history of this country.
The Concerned Farm Women
undertook a survey to document their
claims about the stresses being
inflicted on the rural community.
What emerged was a previously
unrecorded profile of the farm woman
and the farm family. The study was
unique in many ways. Instead of
dealing just with demographics, the
study dealt with psychographics; it
looked at how farm women felt about
j themselves and their profession. The
resulting book, The Farmer Takes a
Wife, has sold more than 4,000 copies.
In addition to recording attitudes,
the study also changed attitudes. It
presen d some facts that couldn't be
ignored. Farm wives were indeed
farmers. The unpaid labour of farm
women and farm children was sub-
sidizing food production in this coun-
try. And it was being done for love.
All across North America, the
farm women's movement was gaining
momentum. Farm women were
speaking to policy makers about the
economic and political issues in
agriculture. They were also address-
ing the social inequities between rural
and urban women. It was 1982, and
the federal government was spending
$250,000 to establish a day-care for
Parliament Hill employees. Mean-
while, the CFW study had revealed
that in the countryside young children
1
were exposed to the dangers of the
working environment on the farm.
And the families at work were going
broke.
The CFW set about remedying
certain situations in their own counties
of Grey and Bruce. They dealt with
the causes and symptoms of their own
documented stress: child care, family
violence, isolation, and debt load. But
they also recognized the need to
educate the non -farming population.
They adopted a creed:
To learn with concern and sincer-
ity, to teach with knowledge and
understanding, to converse with
pride and determination, to create
a better farming economy for the
benefit of families and county.
In the group of 11
women at the an-
nual meeting in
January, there were
three 'farm women"
who no longer lived
on a farm. All but
Guide to Property and Credit Law for
Farm Families in Ontario. It's a time
to celebrate," said Beth Slumskie at
the launching party for the new book.
But four years after Gisele Ireland had
chaired the first CFW meeting, the
need for a book explaining "Power of
Sale" and "Foreclosure" was harsh
testimony. The farms of Ireland and
other CFW members were still at risk.
On November 28, 1985, Ron
Oswald, president of the Canadian
Cattlemen's Association, addressed a
group of farmers in Wiarton. He told
his audience the hard facts. "We have
to look on farming as a business. It's
not a way of life anymore."
That the two aspects of farming, a
business and a way of life, could and
one now held an
off -farm job, and
in most cases their
husbands did as
well
(Below, Meeting in
Chesley, March)
41,
In 1984, Hollywood gave us a
triple bill of farm women. Sally Field
starred in Places in the Heart, Jessica
Lange in Country, and Sissy Spacek in
The River. But the silver -screen
dramatization of the plight of farm
women and families was not enough.
For the families that were living and
often losing the battle of farm life,
there were no Academy Award
nominations. The farm women kept
on feeding their families and driving
children to ball parks and arenas.
They chased cattle and balanced bank
statements. Canning and cleaning and
now off -farm jobs left little time for
lobbying and studying, but the Con-
cerned Farm Women remained true to
their self-imposed creed. Conferences
were attended. Workshops were
organized.
In 1985, the CFW published their
second book, To Have and to Hold, A
should go hand in hand had always
been the shared belief of the members
of the farm women's movement.
They had taken a critical look at
themselves and their industry and they
were adamant that the family farm
should be the basis of Canadian food
production.
By 1986, interest rates had fallen.
Thanks to the work of the CFW and
groups of other farm lobbyists, the
government had reacted to many of
the concerns of the farming industry.
Subsidies stabilized some operations
and debt review staved off some
foreclosures. The stock market rallied
and housing starts jumped. But along
with the subsidies and the resurgence
of the urban economy came a new
attitude toward the country cousin —
Q. What do you call six farmers in a
basement? A. A whine cellar.
It seemed obvious that it was
APRIL 1988 25