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‘People are looking for roots'

KAREN VON HAHN

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:45 PM EST 27/08/08

This summer we're wearing granny dresses, buying rustic furniture and growing our own veggies. Is it a neo-agrarian movement or just the latest retail therapy? ...Read the full article

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  1. rosanne van schie from Canada writes: Can someone explain to me how having a squared off laquered 2' stump can cost 500$. Who buys these things? They're comfortable to sit on for about 5 minutes we have numerous at our campsite.
  2. Inmate #18330-424 from Coleman Federal Prison, United States writes: Can I borrow your $500 stump so I can beat my head against it. I've got to find some way to forget this article.
  3. John Stewart from Eden, Ontario, Canada writes: Hey, if you are in Toronto and really want to move out to a farm, why don't you look in Tillsonburg? Harper and Ritz and Finley have reneged on the tobacco buyout deal that Health Canada wants. The banks are starting to foreclose.

    Apparently Harper prefers to torture farmers rather than make the government live up to its promises.
  4. Phillip C. from Far from a city, Canada writes: I give the vast majority of these 'back to roots' converts a single season before they move on to the next perceived fad. From all the idiots smoking cigars a few years back, to the army of karaoke singers to the mountains of people that played texas hold'em. In each and every case the sheeple obligingly line up to taste the best sandwich ever, drink the 18 dollar martini, do swing dance for 2 months, wear obnoxious plastic crocs for a summer then move on. At no point do the bulk of them even begin to understand the fundamental reasons why they will never find satisfaction. Forever moving from notion to notion yearning to fill a void of presence. The irony of driving 20 dollars of fresh local produce in the trunk of a leased $90,000 car to a stainless steel fridge the size of an aircraft hanger just seems to get lost in the shuffle - never mind the $300 wood chunks these twits then go and sit on to eat the spoils of paradise - My prediction, by this time next year those stools will be made of polished concrete, the notion will be bowling, it will cost 80 dollars a crack, and Karen will be happy to point this out.
  5. Stalock Rujulus from Toronto, Canada writes: Country people have the life on the good earth but the cities have all the money and jobs. Can't we use the Network to push some jobs and money from the cities to elsewhere in our country, so we can have a bit of both?
  6. Nature Lover from Canada writes: That someone thinks they should sell you a log stump for $300 is the epitome of attempting to find meaning in the meaningless. Sounds like all these city slickers looking for a spot to park so they can buy a little peice of heaven at the farmers market are looking for salvation from the "right" kind of shopping.
    Best to avoid.
  7. Christine Greydanus from Petrolia, Canada writes: As a farmer who is has been making a living on the land all my live I appreciate the new awareness that is spreading across our urban consumers. We need them to think twice about where their food comes from that they put in their grocery baskets. I know we do a good job producing food. I know we care about our livestock. I know that it is safe for my grandchildren to eat what is produced on our farm and I would be happy to share that knowledge with our city cousins.
    Farming is a great way of life and we are proud to be feeding the masses.
  8. Jeremy Fewster from Montreal, Canada writes: Christine Greydanus - I agree with you totally, and even though I roll my eyes at the very wealthy who drop by the farmers market in their SUV's to buy ecologically sound produce (which they consume in their massive energy hungry mansions), the idea is sound, and I think it's important for city people to be aware of what's being produced in their own backyards. By the way, are you from Petrolia Ontario? It's been ages, but one side of my Mother's family is from there - nice country - great farmland!
  9. Neil Raynor from Canada writes: "Over rough-hewn dinner tables laden with fresh market fare, we debate the merits of "heritage" breeds of livestock and brag of buying shares in luxury pork."

    Who the hell is 'WE'? what kind of self-conscious yuppie talks about breeds of livestock? I find it hard to believe this pretentious faux-roots is actually adopted by a sizeable portion of the population. Wanting the weekend social experience and fresh vegetables of a farmer's market doesn't add up to the 'lifestyle' espoused by this article.
  10. Neil Raynor from Canada writes: and by the way, I'd like to dock the writer 1 karma point for sullying the good name of Wilco by recommending the band to these hypocritical upper-middle-class SUV drivers who believe in EATING "green".

    we small-towners live the life....I'm on the land one way or another almost every day and relatively little of what I eat has to be imported. I've got a half-share in a cow with a buddy of mine who has a tiny farm nearby. I know it's not the same if you're in an industrial region, but if we were smarter about subsidizing the right balance of agricultural operations in each area we'd be a lot better off. and it goes without saying that when I'm forced to drive through Calgary at rush hour, I count my blessings when I get home.
  11. Randy McClure from Canada writes: I grew up in rural Saskatchewan and worked in farm publishing for 15 years so I have a sense of the reality of farming out in the barrens, as opposed to southern Ontario. This sort of drooling over farmer's markets is foreign to the most of the prairies (except in a few tiny pockets). Farmers don't actually produce food out here. They produce industrial commodities for bulk processing or export. Hardly any of the produce in the local super market comes from the prairies. Prarie crops wind up in flour, processed foods, jugs of canola oil (and ink and biodiesel), etc. Most of the cattle are exported live to the USA. Nobody cares if the stuff is local. The low income folks I know in Winnipeg's inner city only eat processed food because the fresh stuff (whether imported or very occasionally produced locally) is too expensive. Yuppy chow is fine but the vast majority of our food system is industrialized, impersonal, and built for convenience on the part of retailers and distributors, so as to keep things cheap. It is a lot of work (and expensive) to buy local when the 3 dominant chains won't carry it. However as the reality of peak oil and natural gas sink in, we will return to locally produced stuff again since the 3,000 mile salad will be too expensive for the average person, then the elites will swoon over $15 mexican iceberg lettuce in January, while the rest of us eat canned peas from last July. Google or Wiki "Veblen" and this article will make perfect sense.
  12. Earl Dunbar from RochandT-Dot, writes: There will always be wannabes and posers who, as has been pointed out, will be on to the next fad once it distracts them from the previous. And there will always be those producing $300 stumps and other "over-priced" craft items.

    But also as Christine Greydanus points out, the fundamental ideas behind the current interest in local sourcing and natural, organic foods are not only valid but important. As a town kid growing up, I looked down on farmers as hicks who didn't have enough education to do anything else. But each year I get more and more joy out of my own backyard garden, and plan each year how I can expand its size and variety. I can pick fresh lettuces, basil, sage, thyme, tarragon nearly all summer, can't wait to start eating the heirloom tomatoes whose flavour blows store-bought out of the water.

    Bees and butterflies love me, and birds feed on the excess of earthworms in the Spring. My garlic, peppers and zucchini are gorgeous, and I think next year I will grow beans again, add peas, whatever else I can think of; I may even build a small greenhouse to give seedlings a head start.

    The other benefit is that every square foot dedicated to garden eliminates turf lawn which doesn't do anything to feed my family, and consumes my time and energy to mow it.
  13. guy tozer from Saskatoon, Canada writes: Randy McClure from Canada: Where on earth do you live? In a vaccuum? How can you say all the crops and produce grown here are for export and big chain stores? The local farmers markets in Saskatchewan, have every fruit and vegetable you can think of. There are growers just aching to bring their wares to these events, and they are just not for weekends anymore. The Hutterite colonies are a good example of a very diversified agricultural community, and they are front and foremost at these markets. More and more organically grown foods are appearing each year, although I don't personally buy them . Top quality, fresh and reasonably priced and locally grown. I would get out more if I were you and take advantage of the "farmers markets' around. Your statement that hardly any of the supermarket produce comes from here is also incorrest. Our local "Sobeys" can't keep the Hutterite carrots, potatoes, radishes and lettuces on the shelves, so maybe I am thinking your job at rural publishing was in the print shop and not out in the field. Cheers!
  14. SusieQ 321 from NoWhereVille, Canada writes: Why can't people just enjoy fresh food I have shopped at farmer's markets for years even as a student I would pay a little more to have fresh fruit... why must these people be flocking and following the latest trend maybe they just want to be healthier... maybe they have seen the light! Why do they have to be knocked down a peg or two for enjoying fresh food?
    As for cigar smoking if you enjoy it why not, 18 dollar martini's sure if you got the cash a friend just had an 80 dollar anniversary party one... if you enjoy it and keep it going in your life it isn't a fad it is something you like. And if you have the money to spend why not if you are enjoying and living your life.
    I enjoy a good cigar a few times a year not daily bit it is fun once in a while, love a great glass of wine and store a few bottles, enjoy a great martini with tons of flavour! It doesn't mean I am chasing a trend it means I am discovering the new and enjoying it. Once in a while a trend can produce a genuine enjoyment and a hobby to endure for the years to come.

    Now crocs I just don't get that fad... life is too short to wear ugly shoes!
  15. J. H. from Canada writes: I hope this trend continues and teaches children where food comes from so that they can also appreciate what they eat.
    Farming is a very tough business. I know farmers who went to university but decided to head home to the farm after a few years away.
    The money is sometimes tight but the benefits are great. Harvesting a bumper crop (once in a while), getting a decent price (once in a while),
    watching a deer eating his dinner on your soybeans, priceless. No traffic, priceless, puffy clouds in the sky, priceless, picking fresh cucumbers, peppers, beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes, sweet corn from the garden, priceless.
  16. Plain Jane from Canada writes: A great trend, but meaningless for those of us who are just happy to have money for food. The people in this article need to reevaluate their priorities.
  17. My eyes are open, Are yours? from Canada writes: I've tried to grow a garden in the city and I'm sure the raccoons, rabbits, ants and wasps are enjoying it immensely. I put in about an hour a day, and about 3 on weekends, and have so far produced 1 cup of peas, 1 cucumber, 5 tomatoes, 10 lbs of plums that are only fit for jam because they are full of worms, 4 cups of mulberries that no one will eat, and am waiting for the raspberries which may total up about 8 cups.

    Cash value - maybe about $20. Time invested, valued at $10 per hour: 120 hours or $1200.

    No sign of the lettuce, green beans, spinach basil, thyme or carrots planted back in May.

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