Steve Cumper, Country Style columnist and owner/chef of the brilliant Red Velvet Lounge in Cygnet Tasmania (where I had the pleasure of lunching while on my island odyssey, back in November), has an excellent post on his personal blog about farming. Have a read. It’s a pithy insight into the black cloud hanging over Australian agriculture. Steve writes about sharing the stage at the MiddletonFair with Alec Dean, a veteran spud farmer. Recalling the end of the conversation, he says:
I asked Alec where he thinks the food will come from in the future and looked at me for a while, straining to find purchase on an answer and the room became very still. ‘I dunno’ he said wearily and we all sat for what seemed an age as the words sagged in the air.
Steve goes on to discuss the loss of apple orchards in the Huon Valley. You only need to have a quick glance at Google Maps to realise how many have been grubbed out. Former tree rows scar the landscape, which is rapidly being subdivided, turned over to tree changers and hobby farmers. It’s actually quite tragic when you see the destruction of a productive landscape with your own eyes, knowing in the back of your mind that millions of Chinese orchardists, working for wages cheaper than dirt, would love nothing better than to pack their fruit into containers bound for Australia. In fact they already do, in the form of apple juice concentrate. Given that New Zealand apples are now being imported, despite the risk of disease, it’s a safe bet that “fresh” Chinese apples will be landing on Australian, perhaps even Tasmanian docks, in the near future.
My own area isn’t immune from the agricultural exodus. Despite Hampton’s enviable soil, there are four commercially viable properties up for sale just in our immediate vicinity. Some of the farms are being sold off to fund retirement, but others are owned by young families looking to move on. Two are medium sized grazing properties, the others horticulture crops. The most expensive has been listed at $2.5 million, the cheapest, a shade under $700K.
To be honest, I don’t blame people for wanting out. The climate has become increasingly erratic in recent years. One of the farms for sale, an avocado orchard and market garden, has been through a decade of horrendous drought, killing frosts, and disease inducing floods. It’s really, really tough, and it’s happening right across the country. Up at Gayndah citrus growers have had thousands of trees obliterated by the January flood. Down in Victoria, apricot growers letting their fruit rot on the trees because of the closure of the local cannery. What was once a tough, but rewarding way to live has, for some people, become soul destroying. The most noble of all occupations, feeding your fellow human, is being crushed by corporate greed and government ignorance.
Steve argues that “this might be the last generation we see working the land in this country”. My view on the future of farming is this: Some farms will get bigger, and they will probably be run by robotic machinery, albeit with the occasional “farmer” pulling the strings (or tapping touch screens, as the case may be). But unless there’s a massive crash in rural property prices, most farms will get smaller. Some will be viable, especially those that produce high value crops to sell directly to local customers. The majority of these small farms, however, will revert to subsistence. This is the only farming model that has been truly viable since human beings built permanent settlements and began to cultivate the land. And here, of course, is the rub. Given that we all need to eat, the implication is that nearly everyone will need to grow at least some of their food.
Personally, I think this is a positive thing, but the transition is going to be uncomfortable, painful, and and at times, devastatingly tragic. For what it’s worth, my advice is to get hold of some land (or secure a plot in a community garden, city or country), reduce debts, secure water, build soil and learn how to grow and cook. It’s harder than I make it appear, but growing food is still at the heart of the good life.
Hi Justin, thanks for reading. Lovely photographs and great to read about another persons perspective from this big country
Thanks Steve!
“The most noble of all occupations, feeding your fellow human, is being crushed by corporate greed and government ignorance.”
Justin, never were truer words spoken and it is so sad and makes me so mad. Why can’t the powers that be see what is happening. Every politician should be made to read Michael Pollen’s books.
Helen
I agree Helen. Lock them all in the Great Hall at Parliament House and make them read Pollan’s full canon. No one gets out until they’ve all finished. That’ll give them some perspective! At the very least the Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig should read them, though I wonder if he reads anything of susbstance.
It’s enough to make you despair isn’t it. You should submit this for your newspaper article… you reckon they’d run it?
I read a good blog article about CSG fracking recently that pointed out that the problem for the protesters is that it is an issue that “is someone elses problem”. Clearly that is an incredibly small minded and short sighted understanding and I think this is similar sort of deal… until people understand the devastating consequences of the current industrial agribusiness model, the general population will continue to see this a someones elses issue. The question is “how to start to open peoples eyes to this?” Perhaps shock tactics?
Another drawback is that as soon as one starts getting all soap box on this stuff, it’s so easy for others to label them a “conspiracy theorist”, writing them off as a nutter.
)
But perhaps that’s not so bad… Joel Salatin embraces his “lunatic status”.
You’re right Dave. People see it as someone else’s problem. It’s an issue for governments, for farmers, but as Wendell Berry said, “eating is an agricultural act”. Pollan puts this as “if you eat, you’re involved”. Everyone has to take responsibility, and maybe shock tactics are what’s going to make people sit up and take notice. Certainly people paid more attention when the supermarkets in my part of the world ran short of food during the last two floods. But less comforting is the reality that most would have simply returned to business as usual after the highways re-open.
I’ve been banging on about these issues for years in my newspaper column, and to be honest, I’ve had very little negative feedback to date. Overwlemingly positive, though it might be a case of preaching to the converted while the rest snooze in the pews.
One conclusion I have come to – most politicians are next to useless when it comes to these issues. They simply don’t get it, so it’s up to communities, individual households, and a heck of a lot of grassroots effort.
That quote from Berry is one of my faves. It encapsulates so much and is a spring board for great discussion.
Def agree that we all easily slip back into old ways. Growing your own definitely serves as a reminder against that.
I agree that pollies are useless when it comes to this stufff – too much money involved from the big lobby groups. And mostly people only hear what mainstream media says – which is all fed by big business marketting / lobby groups anyway.
My old man reckons humanity is mostly too greedy to make any serious changes when it comes to this stuff (food security, climate change etc) and it will take a big shock (i.e. fuel prices going through roof / consistent climate related disasters) for people to take any notice. Trouble is, that’s already happening and the scientists (and others that should be listened to) are being drowned out by the big end of town.
I’ll just keep planting my veg, expanding my little 1/2 acre enterprise and paying off as much of my mortgage as I can!
As Mother Theresa apparently said, “We can’t all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.” Good advice I reckon.
Good advice indeed!
Justin
I have a small amount of gardening/growing food experience but I am sure that there are many people out there that would like to grow their own food but feel a bit overwelmed with how to start.
Just the idea of basic garden design and how to actually start/plan a garden can be huge. I am still walking around my new garden thinking and changing my mind on the design now for months – steady steady is my motto !!
The question is, is there anywhere around this area that does workshops/short courses on the above topics? Do you do any workshops ?
We were running regular workshops a couple of years ago Jill, but had to stop becuase of a lack of demand. Don’t know of anyone doing something similar in the Toowoomba area, unfortunately. Northey St City Farm in Brisbane is probably the closest venue for regular food growing workshops.
My advice is to not worry too much about the design. Keep things simple, take into account the basics of sun/wind exposure, have a plan for water, and feel free to nick ideas from books. Sometimes it helps to draw up a rough plan, and it’s a good idea to block out some basic zones according to how different areas are used. You’ll find more info in design books and on the web, but once you’ve figured out zones, you can create linkages with paths, and block out some rough shapes.
Above all, make a start on growing, even if it’s in pots until the garden is laid out. Most vegies are easier to grow than people think, and once you bring in that first decent sized harvest, I nearly guarantee you’ll be hooked for life!
I’m a bit confused. Hobby farms are bad but everyone should get some land and start being, well , a hobby farmer?
I’m guessing you’re referring to this statement Richard: “Former tree rows scar the landscape, which is rapidly being subdivided, turned over to tree changers and hobby farmers.”
I’m not suggesting hobby farms are bad, simply that it’s tragic to see old, productive orchards being grubbed out. It’s a statement of fact, not a judgement on hobby farms.
And yes, everyone should try to secure some productive land, but you don’t need to be a hobby farmer to grow decent amounts of food. Community gardens, suburban backyards, and commercial farms (selling locally) all have an important role to play.
Hi
Fair point. If I were purchasing a hobby farm I think I’d beinclined to ask them to leave the orchard in – guess it’s usually too late by then though.
I had a similar experience myself when asking an apple grower from Stanthorpe in Qld who has a stall at my local markets if he had any Bramleys, as he did have some unusual varieties.
He said he hadn’t seen any for years, and had watched whole orchards of them being plowded in – not necessarily to make way for subdivision though, but to be replanted with the usual supermarket varieties – very sad I thought. I have also seen journals from the early 1900s where they were growing all sorts of varieties of apple and other fruits up in the cooler bits of Qld – don’t think any of that survives today either.
Thanks for your response and your blog – it makes for some great reading!
Thanks Richard. re old apples, from what I can gather there are still odd little pockets here and there around Stanthorpe containing heirloom vartieties. I know Suttons at The Summit have some oldies and at least one person is regrafting modern varieties back to heirlooms.
The apple industry is an interesting case in point actually. Two hundred years ago, most apple orchards contained only cider and cooking varieties. Dessert (fresh eating) apples were in relatively low demand. Now, the situation has flipped. The “average” consumer wants shiny, sweet, crisp fruit, and they want it all year round. This is in spite of the myriad of flavours that exist among heirloom apples. Something like a Pine Golden Pippin will never make the supermarket grade, but it’s a beautiful eating apple – much better than the six or seven varieties that are widely available.
Hopefully the situation swings back and more people get to taste exceptionally delicious fruit. Small commercial and part-time growers will need to play a role.