SIX NATIONS – These days of COVID-19 have caused us all to rethink a lot of things we otherwise may not have. In some cases that can be a bad thing, but when it comes to providing locally grown produce to the Six Nations community, going back is the best way forward.
The Six Nations Farmers Association is reinventing itself to better serve the needs of the Six Nations community.
There has been a farmers association of some sort in place at Six Nations for more than 125 years, but there seems to be a new urgency in the ever-changing farming landscape of locally grown produce.
The rebranded Six Nations Farmers Association is now looking at ways to improve its efficiency and goals for the community. The plan is to standardize and encourage the use of the Burtch farmlands.
“The Six Nations Farmers Association is requesting community support to farm the Burtch property for the next five years to supply the sustenance. needs of the community” say, organizers. “Immediate action is needed now as the Burtch is overgrown with weeds and the soil needs to be worked now to make the ground ready for the spring growing season.”
According to SNFA president Frank Montour, “it’s a way to help each other and to help support other farmers with shared equipment, knowledge, and even manpower when needed.”
The official vision statement for the group states its purpose is “to reinforce the role of agriculture as a sustainable economic and cultural in our Six Nations of the Grand River Community. “
There is a strategy in place to help them reach those objectives.
- To raise the profile pf the Six Nations Farmers Association through communication strategies, and formalize operations so as to promote fairness, clarity, and efficiency in decision making and accountability.
- To promote farming opportunities at the Six Nations by designing, managing, and delivering a community-based approach to purchasing and sharing farm machinery and equipment.
- To encourage cooperation and understanding among and between Six Nations and area farmers.
- To undertake research and develop joint initiatives in marketing, crop storage, and other farming activities with Six Nations and other local farmers as they arise.
- To do all things that are necessarily ancillary to farming operations or to the hiring and paying of staff; the leasing and buying of equipment and the seeking of funds from private and public sources.
The plan is to link with Six Nations community members, Indian Agriculture Programs of Ontario, First Nations Agricultural Group, Six Nations Elected Council, the Confederacy Council and Mutual Assistance among farmers.
For more information about the project contact SNFA President, Frank Montour at (905) 678-3497; Vice-president Ralph Sowden at (519) 802-4200, any of its directors, John Montour, Kyle Garlow, Larry Garlow, Ted Davis Jr. or Mile Hill. The chief administrator is Arthur Porter at (519)717-2659.
