A farmer is defined by Merriam-Webster as a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals.
I find the definition too narrow as it does not portray the depth and breadth of food production.
From the tiny fields where mulberry is grown to feed the silkworms and the pots of herbs on a windowsill to the vast greenhouses and immense Prairies that grow grain for feed, fuel and food processing, the variety in farming is astounding.
The benefits are found everywhere. Consider what you are wearing at this moment. If you are donning cotton, leather, silk, linen, bamboo, beech, eucalyptus or wool — these fabrics are all farm products.
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If you ate today, everything on your plate is from a farm or the sea. Have a sweet tooth? Those tasty treats could be made from sugar cane, sugar beet, honey, agave or maple trees and the spreads you enjoy such as peanut butter, jam, ghee, Vegemite, ube jam or dulce de leche are all agriculturally based.
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Food ingredients are foundational in most makeup, medicine, vitamins, hair- and skin-care products. All drinks are agricultural products including coffee, tea and alcohol. The fuel in your car may be plant based and the rubber in your tires comes from a plant, not a mined resource.
Byproducts such as feathers are used in your computer and the paper plates at the family gathering might be made from flax, straw, sugar cane waste or bamboo. The child using paints or crayons is doing so with an agricultural byproduct and when the same child is ready to be tucked in and covered in natural fabrics for sleep, rest assured they are fed and clothed in farmed products. There is not a room in any home that does not have a foundation from agriculture.
Agriculture is not only a part of our life — it is life.
Without the basic practices of farming and fishing, we really are hungry, naked and quite sober. Regardless of the advances in technology, it is food that is the foundation of all other products and we have yet to evolve to producing meals without food itself as the base. The seed comes from the plant, the plant originally comes from the wild (regardless of where and how it is grown today) just as the calf comes from the cow regardless of how she was bred.
As farms are widely distributed, the variety of products be that fruit or fish is varied but most farms are small and are owned by families. From the 191 countries that have a census, the Food and Agriculture Organization reports that 570 million farms (84 per cent) are less than two hectares in size.
Generally, farms are family owned and 75 per cent of the world’s production units are classified in this way. In Canada, 98 per cent of all farms are owned and run by families even though the average operation is much larger (at 314.8 hectares).
Women are the foundation of global food production and are also responsible for the majority of farm labour in developing countries.
In Canada, nearly 30 per cent of farm owner-operators are women (with the exception of B.C., where 40 per cent of farms and ranches are owned and operated by women). In total, one in three global jobs in agriculture and food are held by women.
Farmers and fishermen are just one point in the food system, although they are the most critical. It is the farmer who cares for soil and has an interest in water preservation for they cannot produce food without being in synergy with these elements.
The growing of food in any space — be that urban or rural — mirrors self-sufficiency and a step toward food security. The very nurturing of fish, plant or animal for food is an act of servitude and respect — and it is called farming. As a diverse global community, we share the challenges of feeding the world with the food from within and outside of our culture.
Despite the shiny supermarket aisles of thousands of food products, it all comes back to a simple fact — it is the farmer, not the store, who provides.
And this is quite simply the second-greatest story of all — and one that needs telling.
Let’s start this year by standing tall and proud as farmers, ranchers and fishermen knowing that we are the foundation of a civilized world and the core behind the continuous mental and physical development of mankind. As we nurture ourselves and our communities, we need to set a long table and invite others to share their stories and ask them to listen as we bring to life the miracle of food from seed to sandwich, from conception to cellophane.
A change in the definition and in the perception of farming and the farmer is long overdue.
Regardless of the food we grow or the space we grow it in, there is an exciting opportunity ahead to invite someone outside of food production into the conversation.
Agriculture is not only our life — it is life to all.
