From the hustle and bustle of Brussels to the crop fields of the Aussie country.
“I want to show that it is possible to do farming even without a farming background. To be a city girl and love farming, to go from your farm clothes to the most beautiful dress”.
If Cloe was told three years ago that she would be working in agriculture and working casually on an Australian farm, she would not have believed it. Cloe grew up in a city – Brussels, Belgium. Today, Cloe lives, works and studies between a farm in Narembeen and Perth. A completely different world and experience that Cloe is very grateful for. Cloe moved to Australia in November 2019, just before COVID-19.
Cloe grew up with a small notion of what a farmer was. She had been on a farm as a kid, but Cloe never really understood the value of the agricultural industry until she moved to Australia. Food was such a normal commodity, and Cloe never really considered what it took to produce food until she moved to Australia.
“I guess you don’t know what you don’t know,” said Cloe. Thinking about it now, Cloe feels some guilt and frustration at herself now that she has experienced the full extent of the agricultural industry here in Australia.
The only thing Cloe learned about agriculture when she attended school in Belgium, was in her history class. For example, learning about the different social classes of the Middle Ages and the nobility. Or how the lower class were the labourers and the people working the land, who made the food and typically lived outside the villages. Cloe never learnt how crucial farming was, such as feeding the world, or how difficult it can be for farmers to sustain their operations for all of us to maintain access to food.
Cloe always wanted to study economics. She would often consider the question – What do we need vs. what do we want? Cloe understood that the world needs food. This sparked her journey across the globe to Western Australia where she volunteered for a couple weeks on a hobby farm. What she never expected, was how much she loved it.
“The complexity of the farm is what makes it so interesting. It’s all around you, a special environment and way of life, that sometimes can be taken for granted,” said Cloe.
It is clear Cloe has a love affair with the Australian rural landscape. She spoke of its natural beauty, the fresh air, a good country playlist while driving the car, the crop slowly changing colour nearing closer to harvest season and the livestock grazing in the paddock with the sun rising. The rural environment has made Cloe realise that sometimes the little things in life, are what makes it. That no matter what happens in the day, those little things make you feel good, as basic as a sunset. Cloe feels that she cannot really, completely, describe her relationship to the Australian rural landscape, but overall, she did say “it makes me feel free”.
Cloe is not sure where to from here. “That’s the beauty of agriculture, there’s so much to do and so many different areas” said Cloe. However, one thing Cloe knows is that she wants to work and help the people in rural communities, the agricultural industry and most of all, the farmers.
Agriculture and farming are not for everyone, but we all are impacted by farming, no matter who you are and where you are, as long as you eat.
This is a story of a Belgium city girl that fell in love with the Australian countryside. From the city to the country, and not just a city girl or just a country girl but both. As Hannah Montana says, “the best of both worlds”.