L'Ange Gardien: A Model Incubator Farm
Currently, Canadian farmers continue to struggle with the trends and challenges associated with conventional agriculture embedded in a globalized food system. These trends include globalization broadly, and the resulting effects of the cost-price squeeze, urbanization, changing rural demographics and environmental change (Caldwell and Temple, 2009; Ministère des Affaires Municipales et des Régions, 2006).
Rurality in Quebec and in other areas of Canada is affected by these broad trends and economic liberalization, market globalization, as well as major shifts in socio-ecologies. Locally, demographics play a significant role in the changing landscape of L’Ange Gardien and other Quebec municipalities, with significant decreases in small and medium scale farm production. Demographics play a significant role in the changing rural characteristics and the rapid loss in farm production with factors such as migration, the ageing of farmers, and problems stemming from population renewal (MAMR 2006).