Losing the Country Way of Life?

We recive a small local monthly farm magazine called The Rural Voice.  When we got married in '88, this magazine just showed up at our first farmhouse without rhyme or reason, with our name and address on it so I guess it wasn't random but it sure seemed like it.  When we moved 9 years later, it did not show up at our second farmhouse where we lived for 11 years.  I only missed it occasionally, being too busy raising 6 kids and having little time to read it or anything else.  When we moved here to our 3rd farmhouse, it suddenly showed up again which is great as I now have a little more time to read it.

The following article caught my attention and I thought that I would share it with all of you.  The author, Keith Roulston, is the editor and publisher of the magazine.



"August 2012.

WHY THIS DISAPPEARANCE MATTERS.

Harrowsmith magazine disappeared last year - and nobody noticed.

Now those of you who even know what Harrowsmith was might be wondering why you should care.  After all, Harrowsmith wasn't about REAL farmers:  it wrote about things like organics and composting, for heaven's sake.  But the passing of Harrowsmith is important for rural residents not so much in itself, but for what it represents.

It was 40 years ago that James Lawrence, an American who had come north to an Eastern Ontario homestead, started a small magazine for "back to the landers" like himself with articles on choosing breeds of chickens or how to buy a good used tractor.  He named it after the nearby village of Harrowsmith.

The magazine proved popular among Lawrence's target audience but that's not why its disappearance is important today.  The magazine became a media phenomenon because it tapped into the dream of so many city dwellers in the '70's and 80's to return to a simpler, rural life.  Its circulation swelled to over 200,000 as people in city high rises and suburban houses envisioned themselves owning a cow and making their own butter and cheese or growing, preserving and cooking the fruits of an half-acre garden.

Large magazine publishers, convinced Lawrence was onto something, bought him out.  He went off to start a U.S. version of the magazine called Country Life and it was eventually bought by the same Canadian publisher and almalgamated as Harrowsmith/Country Life.  A few changes of hands and many changes in public attitude, and the magazine ceased publication last year with nary an obituary written by the media that once marvelled at its success.

It's the change in attitude that saw Harrowsmith wither and die unnoticed that should concern everyone who cares about rural life.  Where once the country life was something to be envied, now it's something to be ignored.

Fashions change, including the ideal way of life.  The back-to-the-land movement was always naively romantic but not only did many of those who sought refuge in the country return to the city, but the very dream of a country life died.  There was an almost militant counter movement that celebrated urban living - not the pseudo country life of the suburban home with a back yard, but the intensely urban life of downtown. 

When James Lawrence began Harrowsmith in the early 1970's, there were a handful of office buildings more than 40 stories tall in Toronto.  Now those skyscrapers are nearly hidden by a forest of downtown condominium towers soaring 50 stories.  The media celebrates downtonw urban life incessantly.

Much as real farmers shook their heads and chuckled over the naive back-to-the-landers, they were a significant group who respected farmers and farming.  Those who celebrate intensive urban life aren't really thinking about farming and food beyond that talked-about new restaurant around the corner.

This extends beyond the loss of understanding and sympathy for farmers.  The idealizing of downtown city living and the corresponding unfashionableness of rural life makes it hard for us to attract doctors and other professionals necessary for us to maintain our rural areas. 

This attitude probably affects public policy- from wind turbines to a sense that school closures are an inevitable part of the withering of rural life.  And ironically, people who live in 50-storey condos are often very concerned about nature and see farming as one of the threats to nature.

Maybe someday the pendulum of fashion will swing and rural life will be celebrated again.  Until then, we're on our own."


I can't help but agree with Keith that our way of life is disappearing along with Harrowsmith and who knows how many other country magazines and small town newspapers but I don't believe that our love for the land will disappear along with them.  Reading the many, many homesteading blogs that you all have written gives me hope that this way of life, while diminished, will never quite disappear.