Tobacco Rows

2012.05.29

Have a listen to this.... "TOBACCO ROAD"

The Ontario tobacco belt is the tobacco-growing region located in Norfolk County and eastern Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Being close to the north shore of Lake Erie, the region has moderate climate with sandy and silt-loam soils well-suited to a wide variety of crops. High-value horticultural crops are valuable here and can be grown with relative ease. About 90% of all tobacco grown in Canada is produced here. Members of Parliament elected to ridings in the Ontario tobacco belt have strong pro-tobacco policies in addition to other policies in the interest of their rural constituents.

Historically speaking, the Ontario tobacco belt is considered to be focused in the rural area immediately surrounding the towns of Delhi, Aylmer and Tillsonburg. Additional tobacco farms can be found in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and near Joliette, Quebec. United Empire Loyalists introduced this crop after fleeing from their tobacco farms following the American Revolution. However, the first official tobacco plot wasn't planted in Norfolk County until 1920. While Canadian tobacco farmers (especially those in the Ontario tobacco belt) see themselves as "innocent victims" of government tobacco regulations, most of them started farming after provincial governments throughout Canada began introducing policies aimed at limiting tobacco consumption. As the older farmers retire, their children will most likely seek different career paths. Tobacco farms would eventually be sold to their neighbors; this has a domino effect. This domino effect ultimately results in fewer farmers having more acreage creating a further sense of economic inequality in the area. The irony comes from the fact that farmers protest against the regulations that keep them in business.

Most of the Ontario tobacco belt also belongs to the Green Energy Hub; an environmental region in Southern Ontario that is dedicated to creating "green" jobs through solar panels, wind turbines, and recycled rain water. As globalization comes to a screeching halt due to lack of oil, localization becomes vital in order to conserve energy resources, provide local jobs, and maintain local decision-making authority as a part of a steady state economy.