3 1/2 Weeks

Today marks the first day in three weeks that I feel somewhat human. An innocent case of the sniffles carried into our home by my precocious daughter manifested itself into a wonderful lung infection for yours truly. After two visits to the doctor, antibiotics, sinus medication, Halls cough drops and the magical elixir called Buckley's (I won't say how many bottles), I am almost to the point which I have associated with the word 'normal' (highly subjective, of course).

The last interesting thing I did was participate in what was known as an 'Agenda Camp'. The public broadcaster in Ontario, TVO, has a current affairs program called "The Agenda With Steve Paikin". A live broadcast took place on January 19th from Queen's University on the subject of Agriculture and the Rural Economy. Leading up to the broadcast, was this event - a day-long session on the 18th - of which I had a chance to participate.

My contribution to the broadcast was a six second soundbite at the beginning of the broadcast, which I enjoyed from my sick bed.

My hope is that viewers really took some insight on the challenges that farmers and the agrifood sector face.

The one point I tried to make during one of the sessions was that, according to Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond - in his book 'Collapse', the average North American farmer has increased his / her productivity to the point where they produce enough surplus to feed 120 people.

We talk about productivity losses in various sectors of the economy, but we actually have not experienced one with farmers - yet.

My question was what if farmers in Canada and the US can't feed 120 non-farmers a piece? What if their productivity dropped by 5 or 10 per cent?

The modern urban economy and lifestyle only functions because people can buy food rather than have to grow it themselves. Civilizations, in the Western sense, only took off because some people were freed from having to scrounge for nourishment, and could do other things, like build roads, bridges, etc.

If farmers are unable, for any number of reasons, to maintain, or even preserve their ability to feed more than themselves, a lot of doctors, lawyers, mechanics, engineers, and the like will have to grow it themselves.

Where will we be then?