On the Farm – Democracy and the urban-rural divide

Most of us would have been unnerved at how close the US, our supposed bastion of democracy, came recently to anarchy, as well as perturbed by rising trends in extremist views worldwide. While we don’t have the space here to debate the multiple reasons for this, there is general consensus that the ever-widening divide in equality is fuelling discontent and that the rise in social media allows us to remain inside our perception bubbles and wallow in our misconceptions.

One of the more obvious dichotomies in opinion cuts across the urban-rural divide, and this trend is gathering pace as those who live and work on the land become an increasingly smaller percentage of the population. Until very recently, most Kiwis might have had school holidays on grandparents’ farms and been familiar with the realities of working within the tolerances of the natural elements to produce our daily bread, beef, milk or even avocados. Nowadays, we’ve become a highly urbanized culture, with close to 90 per cent of us living urban lifestyles.

This dramatic difference in everyday lived experiences inevitably leads to differing world views. It is hard to comprehend a perspective of which you have no personal knowledge. Equally, it can sometimes be hard to take an objective or wider view on an issue if it’s too close to home. For democracy to continue to flourish for all our benefits, it’s essential that we find ways to hear each other’s points of view, especially across structural and geographic divides.

There are many topics on which we may disagree; eating red meat, freshwater policy, climate change mitigation, to name just a few old chestnuts. However, by allowing ourselves to be exposed to each others’ viewpoints and by really listening and taking on board the others’ perspective, and seeing how that jibes with our own reality, we can make progress by each shifting a little ground. That is democracy at work.

One group that is working hard to try to break down these barriers to understanding and provide a platform for more convergence of opinion is Open Farms NZ, which was due to open up farms all across the country on February 21, but which unfortunately fell victim to Covid level issues. However, these will be rescheduled and more host farms are welcomed. So sign up to the newsletter on their website www.openfarms.co.nz or register to be a host farm. Let’s get this dialogue going – see you in the paddock.

Bev Trowbirdge