During worship Sunday our choir sang an anthem that featured sheep and a shepherd -- a Good Shepherd. Immediately after the service we drove to the "back of beyond," the farm of our long-time friends. And there we were introduced to several newborn lambs. Even though it was -20C on Family Day morning these lambs seemed just fine in the barn with their moms.
I have told you along the way that we buy beef, pork, chicken, eggs,, honey and, yes, lamb from Ellen and Bill. They are committed to providing a meaningful life and merciful death for the creatures they raise for the table. We are reassured by what we see on the farm, and the lack of pesticides on their fields and antiobotics in the feed. We are close to this couple, love where they live, and support their approach.
The challenge for our friends is the effect of aging. They are in their later sixties and they are feeling that farm life is becoming a little too physically taxing. We chatted about the "what next?" scenarios, one of which will certainly be followed in the next few years. Chances are that whoever eventually buys their farm will do so because of the setting and the view, not because of the prospects for raising food. This is true in rural communities across the province as those who own small farms retire from this demanding work. Just recently an elderly couple outside Bowmanville closed their highly regarded butcher business. The solution for most of us is to buy produce from factory farms without knowledge of its origin.
Oh yes, those are wild turkeys in the bottom photo. We saw this flock of three dozen on the way to pick up maple syrup from one of our friends' neighbours.
Any comments about all this? I know from previous blogs that many of you have found alternate and local sources of food. Is this still a priority for you?
Have just ordered some lamb from my cousin. Knowing what has gone into my meat is a priority for me. I get lamb(we mostly eat lamb) and beef from family, chicken and pork from friends.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of thing is getting more and more frequent as our once agriculturally driven nation leans hard away from its past.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see these kind of realities come home to roost in our neck of the woods.
My brother is a swine producer and a few weeks ago went to the regional Pork Producers Meeting. Twenty years ago, there were over 300 swine farmers, now there is only 18 swine farmers and the youngest one is in his mid-forties. Where will our food come from - 20 years hence and who will heed the call to being a farmer? Some of the difficulty of being a darmer lies in the farmer not getting a fair price for his/her product. I look after my brother's books and last year was the first year in 7 years that he will actually make money and not lose money on the farm. Our farmers have taken a real beating on the price of livestock and cash crops and even now the market prices are like a yoyo.
ReplyDeleteI grew up a farmer's daughter and it was a wonderful life but I am not certain that a farmer starting out today could farm alone - I think they would have to work outside the farm and become hobby farmers.
I see many farmers in my line of work. The urban sprawl is creating many more challanges tan most people realize. I've heard a number of stories about the farm next door becoming a subdivision. Most people buy a house in this type of neighborhood because they like being close to a farm, but it only takes 1 to complain about noise or smell, and the law doesn't care who was there 1st.
ReplyDeleteOne such farmer used to shoot Coyotes that attacked his sheep. Now the Coyoties are mostly gone, but he is loosing more sheep because neighboring dogs will run them to death, and he can't shoot them.
What are these people thinking when they buy a house close to a farm??