WE have been bombarded with news about the drought, with corporations, politicians and everyday citizens promoting their fundraising efforts all over the place.
If you are fed up with hearing about it, think about this. Asking someone if they are sick of the conversation about the drought is tantamount to asking them if they are sick of eating good food.
We are not talking about people who make business decisions like setting up a surf shop in the desert or a snowmobile rental outlet in the middle of Jimboomba or Beaudesert. Farmers make our food and have been doing so for generations.
Every time a farmer goes broke, gives up or moves away, that is one less food source we have. Think about it. Who in his or her right mind would choose dairy farming as a career unless they had a passion for the land or a family legacy to uphold?
Like food, it is easy to forget where dairy products come from, though the tide is turning. Food tourism is now a thing. People visit the Scenic Rim to see how food is made.
When someone tells you dairy farmers are doing it tough, that they struggle to find the resources to feed and water their cows, we should all pay attention, especially if we are fond of fresh local milk and cheese.
It is unfair to say dairy farmers should harden up, that they chose a profession that relies on water in a country that often goes for months without rain.
No doubt their forefathers soldiered on through drought, but that was before the advent of the super-cheap supermarket milk that put so many dairy farms out of business. We can make a difference at little cost to ourselves by petitioning the major supermarkets and asking them to charge us 10 cents more for every litre of milk we buy.
If the extra money is passed straight on to the farmers, this is a logical way to make a real and ongoing difference – and for most of us it would cost less than a dollar a week on our grocery bills.
