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Abstract

Although not obviously farming country, the Slocan has attracted farmers for well over a century. When farming began in the valley, local markets were declining, and distant ones almost impossible to reach. Nor could the valley’s small farms compete with far larger, more mechanized farms elsewhere. But times have changed. The local market has expanded. The ecological and social effects of industrial monocultures are widely criticized, the reliability of globalized marketing doubted. This booklet assesses the opportunities, past and present, for farming in the Slocan.