Since the world got serious about COVID-19 about mid March, 2020 and many restrictions on movement of people were either suggested or demanded, people have had a lot more time to reflect on what is really important in life. My dad had a saying, “It’s no disgrace to be poor, but sometimes it’s damn unhandy.”
Russell Mackay, the 82-year-old retired, blind farmer walking from Beachburg, Ont. to CHEO to raise money for the kids hospital in Ottawa once said;
“You never see a Brinks truck following your hearse to the graveyard.”
Our farming grandparents mostly used food from the farm. Milk from their dairy cows, meat from animals and birds that they butchered themselves, and as much fresh fruit, vegetables and anything that could be canned or preserved in the farm kitchen were the staples of every meal. Recent food recalls of meat, vegetables and even some drugs have made us all more conscious of what we buy and feed our family.
During one generation, we have seen the introduction of drugs, chemicals, herbicides, bactericides and insecticides that have made it simpler to grow more productive crops, kill weeds, insects and kill some bacteria. We have also noticed an increase in super weeds and some very tough strains of E-coli, salmonella and clostridia. We have even noticed recalls of baby food.
Transportation that is indirectly subsidized has made imported foods from countries that have much different food safety regulations than ours easily found on our store shelves. Centuries ago, kings had kitchen staff taste all their food before it was served to royalty. Today we often feed our kids first?
Consumers today are more conscious of where and how their food is produced. There has been a large increase in the popularity of farmers markets and locally grown and prepared food.
I can remember and name the place where I ate the three best steaks in my life. All three, I ate in small restaurants. You are buying your food with your own hard earned money and have the right to ask where it came from and how it was raised.
There’s a line in an old song, “Good friends are hard to find.” With today’s me-me-me mentality they are sometimes even harder to find. The old phrase in the Bible, “Treat your neighbour as yourself” is a good place to start. Respect, courtesy, honesty and making friends are attributes learned at a very young age. If they are practiced regularly, you will be remembered long after people forget what car you drove or how big your house was.
We remember who was nice to us in a crowd of strangers but don’t remember their hair colour, the colour of their clothes or if their shoes were shiny. We soon forget what present we got for Christmas, but we never forget who came to visit us when we were in the hospital. We quickly forget who won the game two weeks ago, but remember who opened the car door for us on a rainy day. Some of our friends are quietly in the background, but are the first to be at our side in distressful times.
You can buy company but not friendship. There’s an old saying, “It’s a lot more fun drinking with your friends than with your enemies.” My dad told me, “Be good to kids, they grow up to be real people someday.” There were hundreds of kids of all ages at his wake.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
