Back to Basics

This blog is not exactly on my usual thought leadership focus but I feel a urge to comment .

I just came back from a 2 part seminar at Guelph University about the business of farming.

Recently we purchased 2 farms in the Niagara Region of Ontario Canada close to the great wine growing area emerging in the region.

Now nothing is more basic than food and its supply to the human condition except maybe air and water. We are new to active farming and looking to build a viable business model through adding agritourism to the basic farm formula.

As Rosalee and I are in our sixties and farming is a young person`s game, we went looking to joint venture with some young farmers who need land to develop their skills.

We have not been so impressed in a long time as we were by the right thinking - hard work focus of this group.

It is time - in this current battered state of the global economies - to go from venerating the Wall Street investment banker and hedge fund smoke and mirror games artists of the recent past to following real builders of value. The financial gamesters built nothing to feed or clothe or house people - the real basics - only played money on money derivative strategies that build nothing of value. This only sucked money out of the system into the pockets of the selfish few.

Let us return to the ``real productivity`` of our forefathers and mothers who grew things and built things.

Let us promote this to our youth - so we can all be proud of being a part of building a solid global economic future .

Let us go back to the basics !

Peace and love,

Johnny