The farm
From Griffith REVIEW Edition 27: Food Chain
© Copyright Griffith University & the author.
Written by Sarah Kanowski
A LOT HINGES on what we put in our mouths; our farmers and our environment are only the beginning. There are issues of food security as our imports of food increase; ditto, food safety; rising levels of obesity and chronic disease; even the prospect of compromised national security with the collapse of so many country towns. There is also the question of how we see ourselves as a nation.
Despite his personal connection to the tradition of family farming, Neil Barr is phlegmatic about its end. ‘Of course, there is little real hope of passing on the farm to the next generation as a viable business. Once this is realised and accepted, then much of the pressure on older farmers to chase the declining terms of trade with increased productivity is eased.'[25] I know one elderly dairy farmer, stoic as a statue, who wept when his middle-aged son finally raised the subject of the family needing him to earn some money off the farm.
As a society we are still receptive to these stories of individual heartbreak. But for how much longer? Barr speculates that as fewer and fewer Australians have direct knowledge of farming it will inevitably decline in our national consciousness and the long emotional connection, already sentimentalised, will wither. Will family farms become a picturesque but impractical memento from our national past, like neck-to-knee bathers and the outdoor dunny?
For Patrice Newell this would be a tragedy, personal and national. ‘When I came here I wanted to be remunerated and celebrated. I wanted people to believe what I was doing was good.' Those of us living in cities, chowing down on cheap imported groceries, may not care if she has achieved only half of that equation. But there is no opt-out clause for thinking about the way we farm in this country. ‘There's the saying, you know, if you eat, you're involved.' ♦
[1] Newell, P. (2006). Ten Thousand Acres: A Love Story. Camberwell: Lantern.
---. (2003). The River. Camberwell: Penguin.
---. (2000). The Olive Grove. Camberwell: Penguin.
[2] Blainey, G. (2001). This Land is All Horizons: Australian Fears and Visions. Sydney: ABC Books, p.32.
[3] Macarthur quoted in Hoorn, J. (2007). Australian Pastoral. The Making of a White Landscape. Perth: Fremantle Press, p.53.
[4] Macintyre, S. (2009). A Concise History of Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.97-99.
[5] Barr, N. (2009). The House on the Hill: The Transformation of Australia's Farming Communities. Canberra: Land & Water Australia in association with Halstead Press.
[6] Barr, p.8.
[7] Barr, p 11.
[8] Barr, p 30.
[9] Barr, p.81.
[10] Barr, pp.85-86.
[11] Brook quoted in Marriner, C. (2010). ‘What's being dumped because it's not this long?.' The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 Jan, p.1.
[12] Barr, p.90.
[13] Barr, p.90.
[14] Paumgarten, N. (2010). ‘Food Fighter: Does Whole Foods C.E.O know what's best for you?' The New Yorker. 4 Jan., p.47.
[15] Barr, pp.59-60.
[16] Barr, p.18.
[17] Barr, p 19.
[18] Austin, N. (2009). ‘Australia imports more fruit and veg.' The Advertiser. Retrieved January 12, 2010, http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25400856-2682,00.html
[19] McKinna quoted in Barr, p.87.
[20] Myers, P. (2009). ‘Push for maverick techniques to restore landscape.' The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 15, 2010,
http://www.smh.com.au/national/push-for-maverick-techniques-to-restore-landscape-20090911-fkqi.html
[21] Barr, p.6.
[22] Williams, J. (2001).‘Farming Without Harming in an Old, Flat, Salty Landscape.' Retrieved January 15, 2010, http://www.clw.csiro.au/staff/WilliamsJ/qld-paper_july01.pdf
[23] Barr, p. 7.
[24] ABC News. (2007) ‘Parties lock horns on grocery prices.' Retrieved January 13, 2010,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/11/1975589.htm
[25] Barr, p.58.