Looking upstream at the farmer mental health crisis in Canada
Canadian farmers are smart; smart enough to recognize that corporations are making huge profits without taking on any of the risks of farming. Smart enough to recognize the decline in rural services. The loss of farmers is hollowing out rural communities, and the increasing volatility of the weather in this quickly changing climate is wreaking havoc with farmers’ best-laid plans. Farmers recognize that these external forces bring stress to their lives.
In a report recently released, farmers and farm workers across Canada identify the factors affecting their mental health. The report recognizes that recent efforts to provide mental health supports are crucial for the health and well-being of farmers; it also highlights that therapeutic efforts remain focused on addressing the downstream impacts of the problem and not the underlying (upstream) causes of poor farmer mental health.
In the report, entitled Field Notes: Looking Upstream at the Farmer Mental Health Crisis in Canada, Canadian farmers and farm workers share their insight into the factors affecting their mental health via interviews and surveys. This report, by National Farmers Union (NFU) Mental Health Working Group Chair, Zsofia Mendly-Zambo, PhD candidate at York University, is co-released by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
At the heart of the farmer mental health crisis is pervasive economic uncertainty and precarity, say study participants:
“All of the risk of producing food is put on the farmers, while all of the protection and profits go to large corporations. It makes the hard work feel futile some days...” “even inheriting land does not secure your ability to stay viable” because farmers are taking on large amounts of debt to manage the rising costs of inputs and the need to expand operations”
Unfettered corporate concentration in the food sector, consolidation and financialization of farmland, climate change, and trade liberalization are key factors contributing to the economic precarity of farmers and farm workers.
“Farmers are on the front lines of the climate change and it’s exhausting and traumatizing at times—in the B.C. context, we’ve experienced several years of intense pressure from wildfires, heat domes, and flooding, all of which have taken an incredible toll on our farms and farmers.”
Additional contributing factors include economic and knowledge barriers to farming, intensified social polarization within rural communities, racism, and violence against women. Burnout and lack of ancillary and core healthcare services were also noted contributors to stress.
Based on these findings, this report makes six recommendations: 1. Implement policies which enhance economic stability for farmers and farm workers
2. Continue and enhance supports to farmers transitioning to sustainable farming practices
3. Include food sovereignty in the federal goals for agriculture
4. Rebuild rural infrastructure
5. Address on-going discrimination and violence in the farming sector
6. Expand access to mental health care for farmers and support existing farm organizations that are providing support, advocacy, and research.
At its core, this report argues that meaningful action is needed at the policy level to improve the living and working conditions of Canadian farmers. A comprehensive approach that considers the upstream drivers of farmer mental health will help foster a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector while improving the well-being of farmers across Canada.
Working with others to find solutions to problems is shown to be beneficial for mental health. NFU farmers, farm workers, and allies take this approach to advocate for recognizing the people who farm in Canadian agricultural and rural community policy.