Evangelicals slow to respond to farming crisis
As troubled farmers call out for help, many Canadian Christians don't understand the issues or know how they can make a difference, says Cameron Harder.
"There's a lack of knowledge on the part of local clergy who don't understand the dynamics of what's going on. They don't have the tools with which to challenge the belief systems that challenge the structures which affect agricultural communities," he says.
Harder, a professor of theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, once pastored a rural congregation in Camrose, Alberta. During that time, a farm family in his church was forced to declare bankruptcy. Other members of the church were involved in the foreclosure process.
"It was a very painful experience," he says, one that led him to write his Ph.D. dissertation on the topic of the shame of farm bankruptcy and its effect on rural communities.
The church needs to develop tools to help pastors and church members through the difficult times facing the rural community, says Harder. "It is important to bring suffering into the center of the community and to de-shame it so it can be talked about openly," he says, suggesting specific liturgies be developed to help congregations deal with the pain of losing a farm.
Hard look needed
Bruce Guenther, professor of church history at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Langley, B.C., a former Saskatchewan grain farmer, and a member of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's Social Action Commission, agrees that it is time evangelicals took a hard look at the issues affecting the agricultural community.
Agriculture is "seen as a special interest kind of issue and not an important issue for evangelicals at large," he says. But evangelicals should be concerned, he adds. "It's linked to social justice at large; it's linked to poverty issues. These are the kind of things we should be looking out for in society."
Thousands of farmers gathered on Parliament Hill and hundreds more at various prairie legislatures during the second week of March, to hold farm rallies demanding more financial assistance from the government, in addition to the $2.6 billion already announced.
But government handouts aren't the answer, says Guenther. "We need a more comprehensive overhaul of agriculture policies." Farm rallies "do raise awareness, but come with risks of being misunderstood," he adds. "The media tends to quote the extreme edges, rather than rooting underneath and recognizing the sheer desperation and despair that lies behind it."
Brad Mazur, a grain farmer near Russell, Manitoba, attended the Winnipeg farm rally March 14. A farmer is "producing food, but can't make enough to feed his own family. It's ridiculous," he says. "A hockey player makes more for his picture on a box of cereal than the farmer gets for producing it. This world is under an illusion that everything's okay, but it's grossly eroded in every aspect."
Handouts not the answer
However, many people see the farmers' gross income figures, which appear deceptively high, and accuse the farmers of whining, says Ken Rosaasen, a Lutheran professor of agricultural economics at the University of Saskatchewan.
But, he says, "Most [farm income] is from off-farm jobs, pensions, or previous investments. When you get down to actual farm income, it's around $17,000 or $18,000." The farmer must then subtract items such as equipment depreciation and other bills, leaving only a few thousand ato support.
Bob Bedggood, president of the Ontario Christian Farmers Federation, says farmers are appreciative of the additional federal money, but it's not enough. "As the industry amalgamates more and more, there are fewer buyers of our products," he adds. "We have less power and authority to negotiate fair prices."
But Bedggood says farmers also need to take the responsibility to make themselves known to their urban neighbours. "If they don't know us, how can they support us? They support the concept, but you have to put a face on things," he says.
"We go to rural churches, we belong to rural service clubs, our kids go to rural schools–all of our association is with rural people. They know the problem," he says. "We're going to have to make a conscious effort of mixing with those urban neighbours. I think they appreciate us, I just think they don't understand who we are."
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