Let’s attract more farmers

The CBC reported July 23rd that Quesnel, BC is attempting to attract doctors to their community by giving them really nice fully-furnished housing along with a really nice new car. An interesting idea. Hope that works. (A government mandated, essential service rural tour for all new doctors would work too.)

There’s a shortage of farmers (and fishers and hunters and foragers) in rural communities as well. The average age of current farmers in BC is 57 pushing retirement, and new farmers can’t afford land. And there’s a drought on in BC (as well as in California, where a big bunch of our food comes from), and crops are coming in earlier, and smaller, and faster than normal, drying up in the fields and dying before they can all be picked (in part because of that thing I just mentioned about there not being enough farmers…). So there’s going to be a bit of a food shortage at some point I think, and a price hike in the markets this fall probably too.

So:

given that food producers (and their experience/skill) are super vital resources, equally essential services, and offer the ultimate in home-grown organic cures of all things that ail us (thereby reducing the need for more doctors);

and given that locally-grown organic food has many known health benefits (not to mention economic ones, stimulating rural communities into vibrant places that doctors would want to live in);

and given that farmers and food producers actually want/prefer/need to live in rural communities (not quite the case at the moment with doctors it seems, in general, on average);

and given that a few acres of productive farm land wouldn’t run a municipality much more than a really nice fully-furnished house and a really nice new car (give or take an added 2 week paid vacation); and

and given we rely on farmers three times a day, every day;

our municipalities and chambers of commerce and other community powers-that-be should equally value farmers and fishers and hunters and forages, and be as motivated and innovative to attract them to their communities as well. Given all those givens, it’s a good idea. Of the perfectly-ripe low hanging fruit kind of idea. A win-win for everybody, in a good fit, path of least resistance, go-with-the-flow, no fighting the current, kinda win-win good idea.

If you ate today, you can thank a farmer. So, keep your friends close, and your farmers closer.

Just sayin’.

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