Inspiring evening at the Guelph Organic Conference

I am currently in Guelph at the Guelph Organic Conference. I'm feeling very inspired by the public forum I attended this evening which featured a panel of six farmers - three older men and three young women - in conversation with each other. I really enjoyed the stories and discussion and was fascinated by the fact that the young farmers were all young women, two of whom grew up in large cities. I have for a very long time thought about writing an article or even (when I'm feeling really ambitious) a book about women farmers. I remember the days when women who were doing farming work were simply cast as "farmer's wives" and not in any way considered (at least in broader society as the real or serious farmers. The framer was always the man; the wife was simply his helper. In reality many "farmer's wives" were actually hard-working farmers themselves of course. I like how some of the young organic farmers that are starting out are women who are clearly the serious farmer. And all the young women farmers I've had the pleasure of meeting or listening to have been dynamic, intelligent, and inspiring (I'm sure the men are too but it is the women who are routinely ignored). It is about time that women farmers are respected and acknowledged!

I was also very inspired by the words of Martin DeGroot, the owner/farmer of Mapleton Organics. He has a Dairy farm in southwestern Ontario in the same area my family had  a farm when I was a child - I went to elementary school with his kids. He spoke passionately about the importance of organic farmers to stay small, not to sell out, to resist the constant pressure to grow bigger and bigger. It was so refreshing to hear him say that and then be enthusiastically applauded by the audience of (mostly) other farmers. Mapleton Organics does farm tours and I think my kids and I will be doing a trip there in the summer. Even though we are vegan, I let the kids eat some dairy ice cream in the summer. Mapleton Organics seems like it is one of the best dairy farms around in terms of commitment to ecological sustainability and treatment of animals. If my kids are going to consume ice cream out of cow's milk I would like to at least meet the cows and the farmers, and see the land where the cows graze. 

Tomorrow, I will be attending the conference again, this time attending some smaller workshops and the organic expo that happens as part of the conference. the morning will first begin though with a trip to the Guelph Framer's Market for breakfast and some shopping (and COFFEE!).