Friday, July 20, 2012

Couple drive message that farming’s important



 A Hamilton couple is driving a tractor across Canada to let the public know that family farms are important.

John Varty is a writer and professor at McMaster University in Hamilton and his fiancée, Molly Daley, is a public relations and marketing specialist he met and brought to Hamilton from Florida.

They are towing a small farmhouse as sleeping quarters for their cross-Canada trek.

They are making a video and are interviewing farmers, politicians, food company executives and members of the food movement.

In 2005, Carl Hiebert of Linwood drove a tractor across Canada, also to draw urban attention to family farmers. Hiebert, who is a professional photographer, took pictures of farming families and Deb Cripps, who drove the route with him, wrote about the families.

They published a book, Keepers of the Land, about their experiences.

Varty notes that he grew up on a farm near Kingston and "I've taught agricultural issues for a long time and I think it's just too important to keep (this conversation) locked up in the academic world. It's time to take these issues to a bigger world."