Excited to get back to helping with the farmwork, Kai Clarke, 5, steps into his boots following dinner [lunch in the US] with his extended family and farm staff at MacFadyen Farm in Prince Edward Island, Canada, on September 27, 2023. The MacFadyens host daily dinners for staff during the harvest season in the enclosed porch of the home where Kai’s great grandfather, Jeddy MacFadyen, 97, was born and still lives.
Culture + Climate on PEI: Family Potato Farm
Angela Rowlings | Prince Edward Island, Canada
Photographer: Angela Rowlings
Exhibit Title: Culture + Climate on PEI: Family Potato Farm
Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Renowned for its seafood, potatoes, and Anne of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is an ideal vacation getaway. However, it’s currently experiencing poverty, a major housing crisis, inadequate medical care, and the changing climate is impacting daily life for residents, who rely largely on fishing, farming and tourism industries to survive.
The MacFadyen family potato farm currently has three generations working the land. Jeddy and his wife, Joyce, still host family-style dinners in their enclosed porch that overlooks the fields.
So much of PEI life depends on being in synch with the land and the sea. Jeddy MacFadyen, 98, his sons, and grandchildren have so far been able to make a living by working the land. Little Kai, 6, who enthusiastically joins the other farmers during the harvest each year, may not have the same options as previous generations in his family. These photos capture the current way of life and bear witness to the catastrophic effects of climate change on future generations. What kind of life remains for these young people in years to come?
Renowned for its seafood, potatoes, and Anne of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is an ideal vacation getaway. However, it’s currently experiencing poverty, a major housing crisis, inadequate medical care, and the changing climate is impacting daily life for residents, who rely largely on fishing, farming and tourism industries to survive.
In 2024 alone, there was almost no protective sea ice along the entire north shore in the winter, then multiple heat waves broke records in June and September. In Augustine Cove, a farm I’ve been documenting had little rain all summer while other areas experienced the opposite extreme.
“Up west, it never stopped raining. Up there, thunder showers, heavy downpours… we can see it from our place, but we don’t get it,” said farmer Daniel MacFadyen. “It’s frustrating.”
My images of the MacFadyen potato farm are just a chapter in my project about the intersection of culture and climate on PEI. The MacFadyens have planted more drought-resistant varieties of potatoes as one way to adapt. 98-year-old Jeddy MacFadyen, who took over the farm with his brother at just 16-years-old when their father passed away, still stops by the warehouse as his youngest great-grandson, only weeks old, cuddles against his mom while her sons, Kai, 6, and Maverick Clarke, 4, help other family members and longtime staff to grade the potatoes by removing grass, rocks, and misshapen tubers.
The MacFadyen family potato farm currently has three generations working the land. Jeddy and his wife, Joyce, still host family-style dinners in their enclosed porch that overlooks the fields.
So much of PEI life depends on being in synch with the land and the sea. Jeddy MacFadyen, his sons, and grandchildren have so far been able to make a living by working the land. Little Kai, 6, who enthusiastically joins the other farmers during the harvest each year, may not have the same options as previous generations in his family. These photos capture the current way of life and bear witness to the catastrophic effects of climate change on future generations. What kind of life remains for these young people in years to come?
www.angelarowlings.com
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