International Year of the Woman Farmer: Sandra V.

Sandra V

Sandra has a beautiful history of being involved in farming. She was involved in another farm for quite a while. She stepped away from that farm for personal reasons and now, Sandra has her own farm, Dragonfly Farms. She also sits on the board of the York Farm Fresh Association. It's a new venture for her and she is excited about the new opportunities that her new life is affording her. She has been farming for a few decades now, although you couldn't tell by looking at her.

In 2018 and 2022, she was awarded the Georgina Chamber of Commerce business awards. She has also done some keynote speaking, and has presented at our regular AGM from time to time. In her non-farming time, she loves to engage in outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, and running.

It was so much fun to chat with her about what it means to her to be a woman farmer...

What does your identity as woman farmer mean to you?

It's hard to answer that question without gushing. I love collaborating with our members, with the Georgina members, especially women. I find them easier to approach. Women are normally more nurturing. You're not afraid to appear naive; you can ask them questions. The women that I have asked questions to have been so supportive and so generous with sharing their information. They're all about sharing - "you know what? I tried that and it didn't work, you know, but this worked." It's the little things, you know, you just say, this year, we're all at the mercy of the weather. Some years it's too wet, some years it's too dry. And so you get into such a discussion about irrigation.

The women are eager to help. It's like we work Better Together than we do as individuals. And I find that women are more cooperative or, and, and it could just be because I'm a woman and I'm more comfortable, you know? It's basically the camaraderie of the women, especially in York Farm Fresh, you know, has been encouraging.

Why Is Farming Important to You?

This goes back to when I had four kids and was a stay at home mom; you are literally planting everything in the garden that is coming to your dinner table. It's very important to show my kids how it's grown, the difficulties we face, how incredibly exciting it is to go out and harvest your favourite vegetables and know that what you're eating came from your farm. So it's like there's family values. Farming is a lifestyle. You're not going to get rich by farming, right? It's a different kind of rich, right? The abundance comes from healthy eating and you're not worried about the grocery store fluctuations. You know, like you are Food Secure.

What advice would you give a younger version of yourself? A young woman? An immigrant farmer?

Honestly, a younger version of myself, you know, if this is of interest for you and this is what you want to do, start off small with literally your favourite foods, plant your favourite foods. You know that you're going to eat them. You know that they're gonna be used up. Don't be afraid to ask other people for different kinds of recipes with your ingredients, you know, don't be afraid to experiment and don't give up. Some years you might find that you have potato bugs, you know, but next year will be totally different. Every year there was something that I had to work through and, it's just don't give up and just keep on planting everything that you love.

Now, what advice would you give a young woman entering into the farm industry or the agricultural industry?

You don't need a lot of money to start this and to keep this going. If you're willing even just to do an hour a day, a packet of seeds doesn't cost that much. So, even after your first harvest, you can harvest your own seeds. They're acclimatized to your soil. They will grow even better next year.  But it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. You don't need fancy tools. You just need some enthusiasm. No Fear of getting dirty.

Final advice question...What advice would you give an immigrant woman entering the Canadian farm industry?

I would encourage them to grow the things that they love, even though it's different from what maybe supply and demand would have for their area. The Queensway Market, for example, they're looking for different things. They're looking for niche markets. They're looking to expand people's palates, to expand the food experience in general.

So my advice would be, stick with what you love and try to introduce that to others. And even maybe provide recipes. How do you cook it? You know, like so many people will look like at a spaghetti squash and it's like, how do I cook it? If you're growing something different than people are familiar with, don't be afraid to educate them on it.

A 2023 Survey from Farm Management Canada Found that many Women Struggle with Identifying Themselves as a Farmer (over 25% Chose Somewhat or Strongly Disagree). Why Do You Think this Is, and Do You Identify as a Farmer?

If you're not given the encouragement or support or someone is making you feel less than, you withdraw. Something that I've also struggled with is imposter syndrome. Like you're giving others credit for what you are in fact doing.

LYF: That's interesting. Why do you think that is?

Personally, I had a people-pleaser mentality. Which I’ve learned is actually a trauma response. Maybe, a lot of it too is passive aggressive comments that just sort of chip away at your confidence or your self-esteem. So it's like you're shrinking into somebody's box.

LYF: Now, why do you think that is so prevalent among women farmers?

Now, women have really come a long way. It used to be that the women were home, looking after the kids, looking after the house, and the man went and did the jobs and did stuff like that.

So I think we're coming to the point where women are more independent. We don't need to rely on the men. We don't want to wait. We don't want to nag. We want something done. And it's gotten to the point where a lot of us have our own money now. And, and we've got the willpower. We're not taking that back seat anymore.

I think women are getting to the point where we're fed up. We've had enough of being told that we can't do something. And I know that I've experienced it myself in the past. I can go to work every day and get done what I want to do. I think women are starting to step forward with their independence and their drive. We want our peace. And we need a partner. We're not looking for somebody that's going to be ahead of us or behind us. Walk beside us. Make our life easy, make our job easy, make our farm work easy, or get out of our way.

What Do You Wish the Average Person Understood About What It Means to Be a Woman Involved in Agriculture and Farming?

Well, I think the words that go hand in hand are women and love. They love what they're doing. They love being outside in mother nature. They love to be able to plant the seed, to watch it grow, to harvest. It's nurturing your family, it's nurturing your community, it's nurturing the animals. I think women just love what they're doing. It is a labour of love. I just think that we really take pride in this, in agriculture.