Alternative technology and quality of life: An exploratory survey of British Columbia smallholders

Abstract

During the last decade there has occurred a significant demographic shift in North American society as rural areas become repopulated by urban-to-rural migration. Part of this migratory flow is the smallholding movement, families and individuals practicing near subsistence agriculture on small parcels of land. Central to the ideology of smallholding are the notions of simple living and technological self-reliance through the use of alternative technology (solar water heaters, windmills, greenhouses, etc.). In order to gain insight into the actual practice of smallholding, interviews with a small population of smallholders in southeastern British Columbia and southern Alberta were conducted. The data from the interviews are presented in terms of the correlations of a selected number of quality of life indicators with technical skill, technological use, attitudinal and demographic/structural factors. In general, commitment to the ideals of the smallholding movement were found to be positively correlated with quality of life and use of alternative technology, indicating that the smallholders may be a group where ideological commitment has a more consistent positive correlation with behavior and sentiments than have structural or material factors.