OPINION – The National Farmers Union (NFU) proudly recognizes International Women’s Day 2019. This year’s theme #BalanceForBetter resonates with us as farmers, as we work to build gender balance and equity into both our own lives and larger social and political structures.

“It is rewarding to see the call for equity and dignity for women being taken up so widely in Canada as a matter of course in 2019. Our members built leadership positions for women into the structure of the NFU as far back as our founding fifty years ago. We are pleased to see our organization’s leadership in gender equity in agriculture being followed across Canada and around the world,” said NFU President Katie Ward, a West Carleton sheep farmer.

Nanton Alberta farmer and NFU Women’s President, Toby Malloy commented, “today we look back and celebrate the achievements of women who struggled for better conditions for women and girls, and we know this work continues with our own efforts to bring about gender balance embedded in social justice.”

“As women farmers in Canada we call for full recognition of women’s work in farming, fishing and pastoral endeavours all over the world as valuable and necessary contributions to society’s well-being,” said Coral Sproule, NFU Women’s Vice-President, a vegetable farmer in Ontario. “As media stories highlight farmers’ mental health concerns and the role of financial stress, women are often called upon to take up the burden emotional care-giving in farm families while in many cases working as the primary farmer and entrepreneur. In solidarity, we work for better balance in farming conditions so women farmers are able to make a sustainable living with dignity.”