Home » Food & Drink » From Field To Table » Back To The Farm

Back To The Farm

© Bob Ewing

This week's article was originally published on September 8, 2000. As we approaching Mabon, which is a time to look backwards in order to understand where we have been, as well as, a time to look forward to where we wish to go, I felt a look at the family farm was timely. Mabon is the time of the second harvest, and is also known as the Fall equinox. It is a time for meditation.

Today is the kind of day that makes you realize that summer has ended. There may be a few good days left but the rain, and cool air, signal another turning of the Wheel and the resulting seasonal change.

Now back to the farm where it all begins. Far too many people are unaware of where food actually comes from. They go to the supermarket, the baker, green grocer or butcher's and that is it. This is where they get food. In reality, the food only arrives in these various stores, after traveling through a lengthy process, that may include thousands of miles and months or years of labour to produce the pork chops or squash that appear on your plate.

Modern agriculture began about 10,000 years ago. It remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years until very recently with the invention of the plow and then the mechanizaed means to pull the plow. Today we are faced with changes that threatened the family farm that once dotted the rural landscape and provided the local community with all its food needs.

The factory farm is a mega-industrial operation that conumes hundreds if not thousnds of acres and mass produces the basics of the food system, chickens, pigs, cows, grain etc. There is a movement on to restore the family farm and to support a return to small farms. I have written about sma;; farms before. If you are considering becoming a small scale farmer be sure you do your homework first. Even if you have no interested in becoming a farmer, it is important to realize the role that farms play within the food system. If the family farm disappears or becomes consumed by the agri-industrial food giants then we not only lose part of our heritage but an intimate connection to the source of all that we eat.

Next week I'll review Toby Hemenway's book, Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Style Permaculture, published by Chelsea Green

The copyright of the article Back To The Farm in From Field To Table is owned by . Permission to republish Back To The Farm in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.