I READ with interest your article "Rising above climate of fear" (WT, December 9).

A lot of the articles we read make us feel guilty that we make a living as farmers producing milk, meat and produce to feed the growing population.

Our forbears were thrifty people, making do and doing lots of recycling, from making rag mats to making patchwork quilts out of old clothing.

Yes, provided we have water, we have a vegie patch and compost.

We don't have plastic buckets, instead buckets are recycled kerosene tins. Manufacturers should be forced to limit all that packaging.

My final point is that daily we are confronted by all sorts of issues, and, quite frankly, I just want to switch off from the lot of it.

Thank you for your column and pages. I send many of the articles to friends overseas and they find them interesting too.

Dianne Wade, Trafalgar, Victoria