Participant Quotes
“I don’t think there is any stability in the food supply at this moment in time. We import 80 to 85 percent of our food.”
Charles Hubbard, Former President, NS Federation of Agriculture.
“Nova Scotia was a net exporter of food. You know. We supplied not just apples; we supplied grain down the eastern seaboard. We were a net exporter, and now we are importing what is it. 85 percent of our food.”
Mike Wolter, Rumtopf Farm.
“I always say that I’m a farmer with a bit of a smile because I know people laugh. People laugh when I say that, because it’s kind of a joke, you know. There are no young farmers out there anymore. How many 23 year old farmers do you think there are? Or how many 16 year old, aspiring farmers do you think there are?”
Jake Wentzel, Wintergreen Farm Community Member.
“We’re losing the ability to be able to do it… Farming is like painting a picture, or building something unique. You know. You have to have skills, and those skills are being lost”
Ann Naugler, Crossroads Farm.
“I think people need to start being very active in their own individual support of local farming, by doing whatever they can no matter how inconvenient it is, to help keep things going.”
Susan Bone, Ellora Natural and Organic Foods.
“I have customers in Mahone Bay and Lunenburg, but I’d rather have farmers in Mahone Bay and farmers in Lunenburg supplying those customers, so that again we’re not getting this distance involved with our food… I have a group of people locally here within a couple of miles, that I supply with food, and then these farms like ours are just dotted all over Nova Scotia.”
Kurt Wentzel, Wooly Mountain Farm.
“We need to start making changes in the way that we live rather than changing the world to make it easier for us to live. We need to take a bit more responsibility.”
Patrick McMillan, MA thesis project on genetic modification.
“It matters to me. It matters that the business lasts. It matters that people still have their jobs. It matters that you know. What we do, if we’re going to make a change, is going to be for the better… And I think that we’re about to make a turn… Who knows what were up against? But here we are in Paradise; you know. We’re so lucky aren’t we? We’re so lucky to live here. We’ve got all the opportunity in the world to take what’s surrounding us and treat it in a way that it’s going to come back and feed us, and nurture us, in more ways than one.”
Gael Watson, LaHave Bakery.
