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Dear Friend,

 

When was the last time you saw anyone take up the farming life?
 

Unless they inherited their land chances are the cost to launch a farming business was just

too great. We’re trying to change that in Red Deer County with Little Swan, and we need

your help!

Little Swan is a proposed small farm community near local farmer’s markets in Sylvan Lake

and Red Deer. We wish to create eleven affordable starter farms between four and six acres

in size. Ninety percent of the world’s farms consist of five acres or less, and here in

Alberta it is more than possible to run a viable farming operation on such a plot of land.

Greenhouses, berry farms, bee keeping, animal training and other specialty products and

services provide farming families with a decent living. Yet they do not require huge tracts of

land nor hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm equipment.

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This project is important to us for several reasons. We believe that people should have the choice to buy locally produced food, and that artisan farmers should have the opportunity to grow it. We believe that small farms represent and support a traditional way of life where it's the local community that comes first, not commodity markets. We believe that oridinary people, not bureaucrats or corporations, should make the decisions that affect their food, their families and their community. We believe that government should work to increase freedom and choice for everyone, not enforce conformity. Take a look at the links at the bottom of this page and you'll see we're not the only ones who thinks this way.

Our Mayor and Councilors have the power to make this project happen. If you believe that farmers should be allowed the opportunity to run small, independent and sustainable operations, if you believe our elected officials should be making decisions based on need, reason and fairness, if you believe that landowners should come first in deciding what the most appropriate uses for their land are, then please support Red Deer County’s first sustainable small farm community. Please click the link at the bottom of this page and let Mayor Wood know what you think.

FACTS ABOUT LITTLE SWAN:

Little Swan will be located southeast of the Town of Sylvan Lake, near highways 11 and 20, on land that’s already zoned for agricultural use.
It will consist of eleven small farms between four and six acres in size, close to other existing small farming operations.
 

Little Swan will be good for the environment! – Small farms tend to be better managed, use less fuel, pesticides and fertilizer, and allow food
to be grown close to local markets.
 

Little Swan will be good for health! – Small farms can produce organic foods which are fresher due to their short trips to local markets, and
afford consumers a greater choice in what they can eat.

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Little Swan will be good for young farming families! – Small farms are affordable, and just a few acres can provide a family with a decent
livelihood. Only a third of the food sold at the Red Deer Farmer's market is locally grown, so the demand is already there for farming families to make a living.

Little Swan will be good for the local economy! – As little as four acres can provide an entrepreneurial farmer with a healthy income and financial independence.

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If you agree please email Mayor Wood and the Red Deer County council, and then let others know! You can email the mayor just by clicking the button at the bottom of this page.

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Would you  like to volunteer to help our cause, or just want to learn more? Please call us at (403) 307-5505, or email me at stelmack@fastmail.fm​

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Thank you for your support.

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- Serge Stelmack

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