In October 2012, Mary Nenke of Cambinata Yabbies in Kukerin, WA – launched a campaign for ‘all Australians to Champion Farming’. She created a Facebook group called ‘Alarming Farming’, and published a paper titled ‘Why We Need All Australians to Champion Farming’, the result of research she carried for a presentation she made at an ‘Alarming Farming’ day in Varley, in WA’s South-Eastern wheat-belt.
In her words, this initiative is about:
- Creating awareness of the importance of agriculture to all Australians
- Redefining farming as an ‘ESSENTIAL SERVICE’ -’without food we die!’
- Raising awareness of the huge challenges farmers are facing and why many are exiting the industry
- Asking why Australian farms are being sold to China, India, the Middle East and other countries
- Putting agriculture on the top of the ‘POLITICAL MENU’