Who's Got the Passion?

14th October, 2008

These 'mongrel droughty times' (as a friend in Moulamein calls them) are a big trial for dedicated farmers, and they will reveal who has a passion for growing food. Our district, our country – no, maybe even our world – is going to need people to produce food now and in the future, and we need our drought-battered farmers to hang on and keep fighting if at all possible.

The devastating combination most local farmers face is big debt, big bills, big dreams and big heart-aches. If it weren't for the 'love of the job' most would give up and become something else. I want to encourage any with a deep-down desire to grow food to keep at it, and here are my reasons:

Farmers serve the earth

The little planet called Earth with its fertile layer of dirt adorning it like icing has been invaded by Life which is irrepressibly abundant. Something grows on every part of it, in every climate and micro-climate. From the darkest parts of the deep ocean to the snow-bound mountain peaks, from hot thermal springs to Antarctic waste, Life is found, and cycles of inter-locking living things grow and produce. The job of farmers is to cultivate systems that benefit humanity yet preserve the integrity and fertility of the earth. It is a sacred and delicate calling which we honour and prize.

Farmers serve humanity

Time was when every person used to grow their own food. That was before wheat was invented which could be produced in large quantities and stored without deterioration. Then the responsibility to produce food was delegated to an agricultural class. These days, with our massive systems of refrigeration and transport, that class is less than 2% of the population producing food for all the rest. We don't sufficiently honour those people. I have taken to mentioning the farmers who grow our food every time I say grace and give thanks for the food I eat. I'm hoping it will catch on.

Farmers serve God

The first job assigned to humans in the Bible is to 'tend the earth and till it'. God designed this planet with a destiny, a place of prosperity and fruitfulness for a whole united web of ecosystems in which mankind fits harmoniously. Over the years, humans have sometimes waged war on nature or on one another, yet the prophets dreamed that weapons of war might become agricultural implements – 'you shall beat your swords into ploughshares, your spears into pruning hooks'. God has destined us to live here, therefore those who produce our food are serving God.

All of which is more than can be said for a lot of jobs. I regret the artists whose talents are prostituted into advertising worthless products, the creative ones whose technical skills make pointless computer games, the writers producing pulp fiction, and so on. In fact, we can only imagine how good it would be if we tried to limit human skill and ingenuity only to work that is good for the earth, for humanity and for God.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that farming is necessary, valuable, highly skilled and indispensable. We just need to get some rain so our talented primary producers can get on with primary producing.

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