Have you ever finished doing something, taken a moment to feel proud of your accomplishment, and then realized, "oh shoot...I'm not done"? I just did that. I wrote out a whole long blog post, posted it to Facebook, and then realized that I left out a huge part of it. Maybe it's okay that I did, though. The part I left out is pretty long and that post was already getting to be too long to hold people's attention . As a result of my mental fumble, this new post will cover what I left out of the other post.
In the previous blog post, I discussed social license and the fact that the general public just doesn't know a whole lot about agriculture. What I forgot to say is that this lack of knowledge isn't your fault.
Today, only about 2% of Canada's population works in the agriculture industry. Just one short century ago, agriculture employed a far greater portion of the population. People who grew up in towns and cities knew people - friends and relatives - who lived and worked on farms. They knew where their food came from. Today the amount of people growing up in towns and cities who personally know farmers is much smaller. There is a disconnect between the people who grow the food and the people who eat the food. Because of this lack of personal connection, people just don't know how their food is produced. For example, I have a cousin who, for many years, thought that potatoes came from a can, and when she first saw her mother peel a potato, she didn't know what it was (for the record, this was before my cousin spent time on a farm). My cousin isn't stupid, and neither are the other people who don't know where their food comes from.
People are just ignorant. Now that I've typed those words, they seem awfully harsh to me. What does ignorant mean? Let me check the dictionary: "ignorant adj. 1a. lacking knowledge or experience. b. (foll. by of, in) uninformed (about a fact, subject)" (Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English, 2005). That's not so bad. It just means that ignorant people don't know. In fact, I think it's good for one to know if one is ignorant. If I know that I'm ignorant about a subject, I can work on learning about it. That's a good thing!
My earlier blog post focused on how people should go about learning more about agriculture. I'd like to use this blog post to further discuss that topic. People growing up in cities don't know where their food comes from because they don't personally know farmers. Therefore, they have a hard time getting first-hand information about their food. Now, before I go any further, I'd like to say that I am not advocating for the local food movement. If you want to only buy food from local producers, be my guest. But I raise beef and beef is a major export for Canada, so I rather like it when people don't exclusively buy local (although I also really like selling beef to nearby family and friends).
To get back on topic, if you want to learn more about where your food comes from, talk to a farmer. If you don't know a farmer, ask someone who does to introduce you to their farmer friend. Farmers aren't so rare that you can't find us. You just might have to look further than your regular circle of friends. Talk to people with farmer relatives. Talk to college students you know, because they have probably met a farm kid at school (farm kids need an education, too, you know). If all else fails, go to a farmer's market and talk to the people there (just be aware that they are probably big fans of the buy local movement, and maybe of the organic craze, too). Whoever you find to talk to, remember that we all have a bit of an agenda, whether we know it or not: we want you to like us. Ask sincere questions. Ask about the things that worry you. Ask about the latest food marketing strategies. Talk to more than one expert (refer back to the earlier blog post). Do not rely solely on what you see and hear on the media and from other uninformed persons. In short, if you choose to educate yourself about the agriculture industry, make sure you get a well-rounded education.
It is possible to overcome the disconnect between producer and consumer, but it will take a bit of effort from both sides and a genuine interest in each other to close the gap.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Ask An Expert
This post is written mainly for my friends who are unfamiliar with the agriculture industry. Please feel free to ask me or any farmer you know any questions you have about what you read here. Also, any farm friends who have comments are more than welcome to make them.
Today, like many days, I decided to take a few moments to ignore my self-assigned tasks for the day and check out the Facebook world. One of my Facebook friends posted a video about the dairy industry. I had seen this video posted one or two other times, but had never actually watched it. I have better things to do with my time than watch every single video posted by my Facebook friends. However, I wasn't quite ready to return to my work, so I clicked on the link and watched with disgust as some YouTuber I had never heard of painted the dairy industry in the worst possible light imaginable. I'm no expert on the dairy industry, but I know enough to know that this girl was obviously not giving a balanced representation of the industry. I told my Facebook friend that if she wanted to eliminate dairy from her diet, that's her choice, but she should ask an actual dairy farmer about how the industry works.
It turns out that my friend has her own reasons to take dairy out of her diet. Fine, whatever. It's none of my business to tell anyone how or what they should or should not eat. I don't have a problem with anyone's personal choice of diet. However, I do have a problem with people sharing these random videos, blogs, etc. that tear down industries, ways of life, diet choices, traditions - anything really - without checking to see if person who made the video or wrote the blog actually got their facts right. Just to be fair, I did a bit of research on the YouTuber before I got down to writing this blog post. She describes herself as a vegan and an activist, among other things. I don't know exactly what kind of activist she would call herself, but she seems to be pretty involved in animal rights activism. She also appears to have absolutely no background in agriculture. She may be well informed about some things, but she is definitely not an expert about agriculture.
So if you have questions about the dairy industry, who should you ask? Ask a dairy farmer, of course! Oh but, wait. Dairy farmers have a product to sell. Of course they would never reveal the truth about the less acceptable parts of dairy farming. They want us to believe that the dairy industry is all sunshine and roses so that we buy their products, right? Well to be completely honest, I don't know. Some farmers likely would want to tell just the good sides of the story. All farmers (all humans, actually) are likely to get defensive if you present them with a bunch of accusations and ask them to prove themselves worthy of basic levels of respect. If you really want to know what farming is all about, though, and if you are willing to accept that every industry has areas where it could and should improve, then ask a farmer. If you have questions about the dairy industry, ask a dairy farmer. If you have questions about the beef industry, ask a cow-calf producer or a backgrounder or a feedlot operator. If you want to know about the egg industry, or the poultry industry, or the cereal grains industry, ask an expert from that industry. Most farmers will welcome sincere questions.
Why do farmers welcome questions, though? You would think that as busy as we are, we wouldn't have time to answer a bunch of questions from people who know little about the industry. Well, that isn't the case. Our interest in your questions has to do with a little thing called social license. In simple terms, social license is an abstract social construct that allows consumers to dictate how producers produce their products. So, if consumers all want farm animals to be treated properly, farmers have to take a look at how they treat their animals, check how consumers want the animals to be treated, and then work to get their practices in line with what consumers want. There's just one BIG problem with that. Consumers aren't experts. In fact, many consumers have no clue what they're talking about. They don't even know how farm animals actually are treated and if they do, they don't know the reasons behind the methods.
Farmers are experts in their fields. A dairy farmer knows how to produce milk as efficiently as possible. He also knows how to keep his cows as healthy as possible. He knows exactly how and what to feed them to give them exactly the nutrition that they need at different stages of their life. If something does go wrong, he knows how to figure out what is wrong and how to treat it (or if he needs to call the vet). Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the general public doesn't have all of this knowledge. All they know is what they see, most of which comes from social media and illustrates the actions of a few grossly negligent and irresponsible people (to put it nicely). But since that is what the public sees, that is reality for the public and so they are shocked and horrified (rightly so in many cases) and demand that all farmers suddenly do a lot better. This is where social license comes in. The farmers, who have been working hard all year to produce the food that people need for basic survival, come home to rest for a few moments and suddenly find out that they are evil people who have no idea what animals really need (or just don't care) and have no regard for the environment AND are pumping us all full of chemicals and GMOs (which actually aren't bad - but that's another blog post). Since this farmer, who is actually a decent human being, needs to feed his family, he still needs to sell his product, but he knows that the public won't accept it unless he changes his ways to fit their idea of acceptable, even though he knows far more than the general public about how to care for livestock, soil, water, etc. Do you see the difficulty?
I wish I could explain this all better, but this post is getting a lot longer than I intended it to be. I also know that I have just brought up a whole host of issues that cannot all be dealt with in this post (or even in this blog). If you take away nothing else from this post, remember this: If you have questions, or if you are presented with information that upsets you, ask an expert. An expert is not someone who does a bunch of research. An expert is someone who does the work, who lives the life, who knows the industry. If your questions have to do with agriculture, the expert is a farmer.
I hope I was not disrespectful in this post. I tend to get a bit irritable when people don't check their facts. Now if you'll excuse me, I really should get back to that work I've been avoiding...
Today, like many days, I decided to take a few moments to ignore my self-assigned tasks for the day and check out the Facebook world. One of my Facebook friends posted a video about the dairy industry. I had seen this video posted one or two other times, but had never actually watched it. I have better things to do with my time than watch every single video posted by my Facebook friends. However, I wasn't quite ready to return to my work, so I clicked on the link and watched with disgust as some YouTuber I had never heard of painted the dairy industry in the worst possible light imaginable. I'm no expert on the dairy industry, but I know enough to know that this girl was obviously not giving a balanced representation of the industry. I told my Facebook friend that if she wanted to eliminate dairy from her diet, that's her choice, but she should ask an actual dairy farmer about how the industry works.
It turns out that my friend has her own reasons to take dairy out of her diet. Fine, whatever. It's none of my business to tell anyone how or what they should or should not eat. I don't have a problem with anyone's personal choice of diet. However, I do have a problem with people sharing these random videos, blogs, etc. that tear down industries, ways of life, diet choices, traditions - anything really - without checking to see if person who made the video or wrote the blog actually got their facts right. Just to be fair, I did a bit of research on the YouTuber before I got down to writing this blog post. She describes herself as a vegan and an activist, among other things. I don't know exactly what kind of activist she would call herself, but she seems to be pretty involved in animal rights activism. She also appears to have absolutely no background in agriculture. She may be well informed about some things, but she is definitely not an expert about agriculture.
So if you have questions about the dairy industry, who should you ask? Ask a dairy farmer, of course! Oh but, wait. Dairy farmers have a product to sell. Of course they would never reveal the truth about the less acceptable parts of dairy farming. They want us to believe that the dairy industry is all sunshine and roses so that we buy their products, right? Well to be completely honest, I don't know. Some farmers likely would want to tell just the good sides of the story. All farmers (all humans, actually) are likely to get defensive if you present them with a bunch of accusations and ask them to prove themselves worthy of basic levels of respect. If you really want to know what farming is all about, though, and if you are willing to accept that every industry has areas where it could and should improve, then ask a farmer. If you have questions about the dairy industry, ask a dairy farmer. If you have questions about the beef industry, ask a cow-calf producer or a backgrounder or a feedlot operator. If you want to know about the egg industry, or the poultry industry, or the cereal grains industry, ask an expert from that industry. Most farmers will welcome sincere questions.
Why do farmers welcome questions, though? You would think that as busy as we are, we wouldn't have time to answer a bunch of questions from people who know little about the industry. Well, that isn't the case. Our interest in your questions has to do with a little thing called social license. In simple terms, social license is an abstract social construct that allows consumers to dictate how producers produce their products. So, if consumers all want farm animals to be treated properly, farmers have to take a look at how they treat their animals, check how consumers want the animals to be treated, and then work to get their practices in line with what consumers want. There's just one BIG problem with that. Consumers aren't experts. In fact, many consumers have no clue what they're talking about. They don't even know how farm animals actually are treated and if they do, they don't know the reasons behind the methods.
Farmers are experts in their fields. A dairy farmer knows how to produce milk as efficiently as possible. He also knows how to keep his cows as healthy as possible. He knows exactly how and what to feed them to give them exactly the nutrition that they need at different stages of their life. If something does go wrong, he knows how to figure out what is wrong and how to treat it (or if he needs to call the vet). Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the general public doesn't have all of this knowledge. All they know is what they see, most of which comes from social media and illustrates the actions of a few grossly negligent and irresponsible people (to put it nicely). But since that is what the public sees, that is reality for the public and so they are shocked and horrified (rightly so in many cases) and demand that all farmers suddenly do a lot better. This is where social license comes in. The farmers, who have been working hard all year to produce the food that people need for basic survival, come home to rest for a few moments and suddenly find out that they are evil people who have no idea what animals really need (or just don't care) and have no regard for the environment AND are pumping us all full of chemicals and GMOs (which actually aren't bad - but that's another blog post). Since this farmer, who is actually a decent human being, needs to feed his family, he still needs to sell his product, but he knows that the public won't accept it unless he changes his ways to fit their idea of acceptable, even though he knows far more than the general public about how to care for livestock, soil, water, etc. Do you see the difficulty?
I wish I could explain this all better, but this post is getting a lot longer than I intended it to be. I also know that I have just brought up a whole host of issues that cannot all be dealt with in this post (or even in this blog). If you take away nothing else from this post, remember this: If you have questions, or if you are presented with information that upsets you, ask an expert. An expert is not someone who does a bunch of research. An expert is someone who does the work, who lives the life, who knows the industry. If your questions have to do with agriculture, the expert is a farmer.
I hope I was not disrespectful in this post. I tend to get a bit irritable when people don't check their facts. Now if you'll excuse me, I really should get back to that work I've been avoiding...
My dad is an expert fence-builder, among other things. That comes from 40+ years of working and living as a farmer. Not even my formal education can help me keep up with his knowledge.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Strength
Today I tested my strength. I've been in school for four months. My summer muscles have gone the way of my callouses, just as they do every school year. But now it's Christmas break and I get to help Dad with chores. I helped one other day last week, but that was mainly driving the tractor. Today I actually worked.
Usually I help out more over Christmas, but this year I hadn't been feeling well for about two months (it turns out I have bronchitis), so I've been taking it easy. Today, though, I was raring to go! Chores started with feeding grain, as per usual. We aren't a big operation, so we feed by hand (well, actually it's by bucket). After the first two pails full of grain, I wasn't too sure I'd make it through chores, but I pushed on, trying not to think about how much strength I've lost in the last little while. After feeding the grain, Dad and I fed a double portion of straw and hay to the cows so we would have fewer chores tomorrow. My skills with the bale fork on the tractor are a bit rusty, but other than that I managed to get through with my pride intact. When we'd finally finished up with all of that, we drove into the bush and cut some firewood for our Boxing Day get-together with Dad's family. Dad cut an old tree up and I hauled the wood to the Ranger. By then it was time for lunch.
Over lunch Dad talked about all he had to do yet today. When he mentioned chopping the firewood and loading it on the truck, I said I could do that. I've done it before, after all. So after lunch I put my warm clothes back on and got down to work chopping the wood. I was a bit apprehensive to start. In years past, it has taken me a ridiculous amount of effort to get a few chewed-up, slivery blocks of firewood. I expected I'd wind myself pretty fast and have to let Dad finish up. That didn't happen, though. This year I somehow found the right technique, that perfect swing of the axe that sends the two halves of the wood flying out to either side, split perfectly in the center. Who knew it was so easy?! But I digress...
Why is it so important for me to be able to do these things on my own? Why do I have measure my strength each Christmas break to see how much I've lost while I've been in school? I've always been a very proud person (and I know that's not a good thing), and for most of my life I've been able to take pride in the fact that I can work past people's expectations of me. Having been born with certain physical limitations, I was always working to keep up with the other kids and I was generally pretty successful at that. It wasn't even all that difficult, especially as I got older. Soon I developed a competitive spirit that drove me to want to be one of the best at everything. Of course, no one can be the best at everything, but I still took pride in at least being able to keep up with those around me. To this day, without even really thinking of what I'm doing, I always expect myself to keep up with the people around me. Unfortunately, these days my companions tend to be grown men who are used to working year-round on the farm and I forget that they just are stronger than I am. Sometimes I think I would work myself into delirium if no one noticed and stopped me. I remember some friends of mine almost prying a shop broom out of my hands and telling me to stop after we'd cleaned out a barn once. I was just trying to keep up with the boys.
It's a terrible thing to take pride in physical strength. It makes me keep going long after I really ought to quit. When I lose my strength, I push myself even harder, trying to prove, even if only to myself, that I still have what it takes to farm. Worst of all, looking to myself for strength takes my focus off of God, who is the source of my strength, both physically and emotionally. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (ESV). I ought to remember that before I get myself into trouble by relying on my own strength.
When I was born, my dad named me Valerie, which means "strong one," because he knew I would need to be strong to fight my way through the difficult days ahead. I made it through, but not on my own strength. I made it through because God gave me His strength and I will continue to make my way through life with God's help, and not on my own strength.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Dear Premier Notley: Thank-You
Dear Premier Notley,
I did not vote for your party. I hoped our provincial government would look different than it does, but this is the way it is. Since the provincial election earlier this year, you've been rather busy. At first it seemed like everyone was just holding their breath, waiting for the results of the federal election. Now that that's been settled, our provincial government has gotten down to work.
I have a wee confession to make: I don't pay a lot of attention to what goes on in the world. Oh, I hear about the big stuff eventually, but I don't actively search out news sources. Because of that, Bill 6 almost slipped passed my attention. Almost.
A couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook during a break from homework and came across an article about Bill 6. The sight that published the article was clearly anti-NDP and the writer was practically frothing at the mouth in outrage. Being a conscientious researcher, I started checking out other sources to see if the outrage was warranted. I checked mainstream media sources, government documents, and I read opinions from other farmers, like myself, who had made their views public. Slowly, but surely, I began to put the picture together. It was not a pleasant picture.
As I learned more, I began making my views public, too. I did my best, however, to always try to see both sides of the issue. I guess I learned that from writing so many papers in my previous post-secondary experience. I never want to be one of those people who has only one view on complex, multi-faceted issues. Blind outrage is never an appropriate reaction to a threat.
With time, I saw farmers mobilizing and protesting across the province. I must say Premier, you either picked a really bad time of the year to push this bill through, or you knew exactly what you were doing and actually wanted to do it at a time when farmers have little to do besides doing chores and getting up to date on political issues. This is the part, Premier, where I say "thank-you." Farming is a way of life that emphasizes community. I grew up in that. Even so, I have never seen farmers come together in such a huge display of solidarity as I have in the past few weeks. I can't say I agree with all of them. I daresay some haven't done as much research as I have and are acting on fear instead of logic. Whatever the reason, though, we are coming and standing together to ask you to stop. Just hit the pause button, step back, and listen to what we are saying. That's all we want. Remember, we care about safety, too. Some of the things being presented in Bill 6 are a good idea. We're just afraid that you have no clue how farming really works (which is true) and that you will kill an industry and a way of life by rushing (you know...that's how people get hurt on the farm; we rush and hurry and take shortcuts and that is how we get hurt). We're asking you not to hurt us.
Premier Notley, you have brought farmers together like never before. Congratulations. If this bill goes through without the consultation the farmers are asking for, well, best of luck. I hope your time in office goes better from here on out - better for you and better for the province. But if not, you can at least say that you were thanked for one thing: you gave Alberta farmers a reason to look around and really see the huge community that we live in. Thank-you.
Sincerely,
Valerie E.
Third-Generation Farmer
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