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Rebecca Anne Houzé

Farmer

When the Island went into lockdown not much changed to my daily routine, as farmers we are essential workers our animals still require cleaning, feeding and milking daily along with our crops still needing to be drilled and harvested.

At first many of us didn’t comprehend the severity of the virus together with the impact it would cause our economy or how our businesses would need to diversify to stay viable. It has been testing times but as an industry we have managed to keep our heads above the water. The pandemic has made me thankful for what I have, a job to pay my bills and blessed with plenty of outdoor space to roam.

I’ve found that while the Island has been in lock down, islanders have become more connected to agriculture and the countryside, exercising in the country lanes during the day has meant locals are able to observe the farmers at work. We mustn’t forget the period of panic buying, supermarket shelves low if not empty on imported goods however the locally sourced food shelves replenished and in abundance.

Trying to stay positive I have used this time as an opportunity to complete projects while at home, for my partner and I our weekends were spent building a vegetable garden and chicken coop, something we always talked about doing but could never commit the time. Sadly, we have missed out on celebrating special occasions, seeing friends getting married, cancelled holidays abroad and restricted seeing our loved ones in nursing homes. I hope Coronavirus will soon be a memory of the past and we can go back to living how we once did, we should never take our freedom, health, friends and family for granted.