ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 10 HEALTH AND WELLNESS Owen Roberts Building heartier, healthier farm communities Just in time: a new era of physical and mental farmer wellness arrives A new era of farmer wellness awareness – mental and physical – has arrived. Across Canada, health-related initiatives have been launched that underscore how farming has complexities that have gone unknown or misunderstood for decades. The new wave of emerging geopolitical and climate-related issues affecting food production and food security just makes farmers’ health even more of a challenge…and more of a priority. Some of these wellness initiatives stem from research activity. One of the best -known studies resulted in the deeper understanding of farmers’ mental health challenges, which began percolating some 20 years ago by Prof. Andria Jones at the University of Guelph. When studying the health of large animal veterinarians in Ontario, Jones came to realize producers too were dealing with significantly higher stress, depression and anxiety levels than the general public. However, no one was talking about them openly, let alone taking measures to address them: mental health was a hushed topic in agricultural circles. Jones and her team changed that by introducing their research findings to the farming community, opening doors for discussions and eventually for programs, initiatives and more research to address the problem. Among the efforts that exist today are the Canadian Center for Agricultural Wellbeing, the Canadian Agricultural Literacy Program, the Do More Agriculture Foundation, The National Farmer Wellness Network, Farm Credit Canada’s Rooted in Resilience program, and most lately, Agriculture Wellness Ontario – all in a matter of a few years. Agriculture Wellness Ontario, supported by the governments of Canada and Ontario under the Sustainable Agriculture Partnership, offers several programs and services to the farm community. These include free, unlimited, around-the-clock mental health counselling Across Canada, health-related initiatives have been launched that underscore how farming has complexities that have gone unknown or misunderstood for decades. to Ontario farmers, farm families and farm employees, including international workers. As well, this program has developed what it calls the Guardian Network, a volunteer, peer-driven community of mental health advocates that supports Ontario farming community, managed by Durham region farmer and registered psychotherapist Marnie Wood. Grain Farmers of Ontario has also taken significant measures to support farm community wellness, including a farmer wellness page on its website and a Community Investment Program. “We understand the challenges farmers are facing and the stress that comes with farming,” it says. “Grain Farmers of Ontario is working to help you, our farmer-members, be successful in your business and we see a focus on mental health and well-being as part of that work.” Other wellness efforts have stemmed from producers’ experiences and needs on and off the farm, and in some cases, led to support from Grain Farmers of Ontario. For example, when the organization Agriculture Wellness Ontario team
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