This week Harden’s own, Gabrielle Chan, has released her book ‘Why You Should Give a F*ck About Farming, and it covers just that.
The book puts an emphasis on why farming is a critical part of everyone’s life and exactly why we should all have an interest and care in the farming industry.
Gabrielle raises the point that we must focus on and address the tough challenges that the farming industry faces, if we want to keep sourcing the food we eat and buying the clothes we wear.
Ultimately, whatever the lifestyle, everyone either directly or indirectly has an influence on farming.
An exert from the book’s introduction reads; “Eaters will be the ultimate arbiter of where and how food is grown and how the land is cared for … We all have a stake in the future of food and farming. I am going to show you why.”
Gabrielle sheds light on some important changes that are currently occurring in our food system, and where major cracks are appearing.
Farming is at the heart of some of the biggest challenges faced in the world today, as climate change, soil, water, energy, and natural disasters continue to evolve.
The Australian farming landscape is changing rapidly, and Gabrielle wants urgent conversation to start, instead of looking back in coming years and being shocked by the outcomes.
The most fitting thing is that Gabrielle is the perfect author for this book, as she has sat both sides of the fence.
Growing up in Sydney and becoming a journalist for major newspapers, before moving to Canberra to work at the Press Gallery, Gabrielle was a world away from the farming world.
However, after marrying a sheep and wheat farmer in 1996, Gabrielle relocated to Harden to start a new life on the farm with her partner.
“If you had told me thirty years ago that I would be moved to write a book in my fifty-fifth year about farming, I would have said you were barking mad. I literally didn’t give a stuff about farming,” Gabrielle said in the book.
“And then I met The Farmer. I suppose you could fall in love with someone and hate their occupation. I didn’t; I became thoroughly fascinated by The Farmer’s job. “It just gets so much more personal when your livelihood depends on it.”
‘Why You Should Give a F*ck About Farming’ is a realistic view on the industry of farming from a totally balanced and unbiased perspective.
Published by Penguin Books Australia, the book is due to be released on August 31st and is available to buy now from all leading retailers, as well as in eBook and audiobook formats.
Tim Warren
