"They're offering it as an option because they think it's either comparable to being paid real money, or they think that it's fair payment for someone's hard work."
I don't really think it's fair to make that assumption. I also had a hunch, that if they were to take (even partial) payment, that turnips would have a "better" value - like twice as much as the monetary value. So either $10 or $20 (converted from CAD) in turnips. But I can't make that assumption either. We don't really have much information.
It's like when artists have USD slots and potato/other slots. And sometimes it's much "cheaper" to do straight USD commissions.

I hope that the artists hired get paid what they are worth regardless of their preference in payment, and I'd hope most, if not all, will lean towards USD, since this isn't just commissions, it is full on work and employment.

(Also random side note - the users online counter apparently is very inaccurate since it only shows those who were active in the last 10 minutes or so, and hides those appearing offline. I'd love for an actual counter that anonymously counts users, and does it in like...2 hour periods. Super random sorry about that lol)

All in all, I truly think people are taking a lot away from very little - honestly, this news post is very scant. We really need more details.