Thread by @jtiltonflood

Ever notice that sometimes folks are so busy trying to feed their narrative, rally their base, stir the pot, and serve their own narcissism and ego that they don’t actually discuss the fact that access to behavioural health services is important to rural populations and needed?

For the record, if anyone is actually interested in facts, rural populations(which includes farmers,ranchers & ag industry workers)do have higher suicide rates the less urban their communities are, and despite the statistical error ag suicide is a concern
farmbilllaw.org/2018/11/19/wha…

Here’s some more facts...the recent Farm Bill includes funding and framework for strengthening rural access, availability, and delivery of health services (FRSAN & FARMERS FIRST Act) for underserved rural populations incl. workers, not just landowners congress.gov/115/bills/s271…

But repeating facts doesn’t really move the needle on connecting people to the services that they need or help to repair the problems that exist that cause rural areas to lag behind when it comes to behavioural health. Ag is a part of the problem and MUST be part of the solution

Improvements in working conditions & compensation, freedom to access services without negative repercussions are as important to strengthening the overall health of those who live & work in rural areas as improvements to the health provider infrastructure.

Some parts and people in Ag do a great job and are improving with regards to providing quality workplace environments. Some are not. Likewise, some rural communities and businesses do a great job and focus on improvement and others do not. Stereotyping entire sectors doesn’t help

And stereotyping goes both ways- it’s just as wrong (and detrimental) to paint all with a negative brush as it is to whitewash things. If we ignore the realities & facts that clearly point to inequities, transgressions, & failures we will never succeed in finding true solutions.

This isn’t a contest to see who’s worse off. I’m just a mom & dairy farmer who knows first hand how important it is for someone in a rural area to be able to reach out and find a hand to hold onto and what happens when they can’t. This isn’t about sectors- it’s about people

There are people who DESERVE better out there and people who can DO better. Most of us here in the twitterverse are the folks who can & should be doing more. Knowing the facts is a start. Doing something more is how we get to the finish.

If we ignore the reality that the majority of the food we enjoy at an extremely affordable price is the product of difficult hand labour performed by people who do not always have the advantage of permanent residence in a community then we can’t possibly find solutions that work.

Take Maine Mobile Health...they provide services in our rural state to those who would otherwise go without. As the program has evolved it has integrated and included not just migrant farm workers, but permanent employees (of all backgrounds) in Ag. mainemobile.org

In Minnesota, dealing and coping with Farm & Rural stress involves attention and access to services to support mental, physical, and financial health through @MNagriculture

mda.state.mn.us/about/mnfarmer…

For our dairy cooperative, @cabotcheese, delivering access to resources for its 950 farm families& their employees meant a Member Assitance Program, one that was similar to the EAP already in place for Co-Op employees. Because in the business world these things do exist.

Did you catch my last tweet? The one that talks about how services and resources to ensure health and wellness do exist for some folks in the more urban or more corporate realm. Adapting some of these things to rural communities and agricultural business can make a difference.

Are farmers, agriculture, & rural communities more important than anyone else? Hell no. But, instead of lining people up in the order they should be tossed overboard we should be making sure there are lifeboats enough for everyone, and if not get to work building them.

I don’t talk about the need for better resources and services, access and delivery for rural populations and within Ag because I think it’s more important than elsewhere- I talk about it because it’s where I live. And where people I care about battle, suffer, and die.

There’s no shortage of problems and tragedies in every community and every industry. I truly believe that there’s also no shortage of good people to develop and deliver solutions in every community and industry. I’m pretty sure that some solutions are already out there.

This wasn’t meant to be a rant...just a thread from someone who knows that depression, suicide, addiction, and all those things we hate to talk about don’t give a rat’s ass about where you live because they will make themselves at home wherever they want. Unless we do something.