There is the old saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" and in a similar vein we need to look at a diversity of approaches to achieve the goal of local, sustainable, self-reliant communities.
Much of our current instability (the opposite of resiliency) is that our cities have become divorced from their rural hinterlands. In older times, the city economy could exploit the rural hinterlands, but only so much since ultimately they were reliant on these natural and agricultural areas for food, water, wood, etc... but their was an intact feedback loop. Now, cities and as such the bulk of the current population base are reliant on their global connections to access cheap food, entertainment, appliances, clothing, etc... but at a huge cost of transporting these things from the far corners of the world while the local rural realm is devalued both here and abroad.
I feel we have an opportunity to look at the real wealth that New Brunswick has within its rural areas and would like to see the New Brunswick government population secretariat to include a concrete step towards attracting more families to consider living in the rural areas. What do people think of a concept to bring in mini-land grants of 3-5 acres on marginal agricultural lands in rural communities who would like to attract more people back to their area. Rural communities in Quebec have already started something similar as a way to attract more young people interested in small scale farming to their communities. I think it is a great idea and could be part of a plan to revitalize our rural areas.
What do you feel are the opportunities that exist or could exist in our rural areas? What would it take for you to build your dream here in rural New Brunswick? Want to be part of the discussion? Come out to our World Cafe on Thursday, Feb 28th at the Knowlesville Art and Nature School located at 111 Simms Road (not far from FBC). Discussion will start around 4pm and go until 5:30. We then will have vegetarian fare for all, followed by a Documentary showing on Waldorf Education. More details available at www.knowlesvilllenature.ca.
