page_title: Agriculture in Upper Canada
section_title: Subsistence first
hierarchical_section_title: Agriculture in Upper Canada / Subsistence-surplus farming / Subsistence first
caption_attribution_description: English: Temple of Peace, Sharon, Ontario
context_page_description: Upper Canada had few exports with which to pay for its imported manufactured needs. For those who settled in rural areas, debt could be paid off only through the sale of wheat and flour. However, for much of the 1820s, the price of wheat went through cycles of boom and bust depending upon the British markets that ultimately provided the credit upon which the farmer lived.
  In the decade 1830-9, exports of wheat averaged less than £1 per person a year, and in the 1820s just half that.
context_section_description: The importance of high-lighting the Subsistence-surplus strategy lies in the non-market mentality of the farmer who resists market cues and cannot be considered a profit maximizing individualist. By prioritizing subsistence first, the farmer may give up opportunities for profit because they are embedded in community networks based on mutual exchange and cooperation. Rather than risk all for higher profits in a highly variable and unpredictable market, farmers will prioritize the needs of the larger local community that provides them support in times of need. A highly visible example of these strategies is the community of Hope (now Sharon) where a small religious group of former Quakers started Canada's first credit union and ran Canada's first agricultural co-operative, the Farmers' Storehouse company. They also had Canada's first homeless shelter. All of these community building efforts were supported by the groups elders, who rejected profit making and invested in their community instead. These institutions were designed to preserve the younger members from undue pressure from the merchants and market.
caption: The Temple of the Children of Peace in Hope (Sharon)
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