Those of us in the farming community have known for a while now that hog farmers are facing financial difficulties and need help. Thanks to the efforts of many, even mainstream media have picked up on the crisis in the pork sector.

But although many use facts and figures to try to illustrate the point, to me, it’s the human aspect that really drives home the crisis affecting families on Ontario’s pig farms these days.

A prime example of putting a face to the story is a wonderful letter to the editor in yesterday’s Guelph Mercury from Stewart Skinner, a young hog farmer from Listowel, Ontario. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

An interesting headline grabbed my eye while I was riding the Underground in London last week: “Anger at strawberry growers - Wimbeldon’s fruit farm is berry ugly”.

Anger? At berry growers? I found that hard to fathom so I had to read the story and what I read left me shaking my head. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

A freelance science writer from Egypt speaking at a conference for science journalists helped shed some light on that country’s extraordinary decision to slaughter its entire pig population when H1N1 influenza was first announced earlier this year.

Nadia El-Awady, Program Manager with the Arab Science Journalists Association, spoke about the events that led up to the mass slaughter and how the weaknesses in Egyptian media and government contributed to the panic that gripped the country. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

Normally, my posts here are somehow related to food or farming. But this one is more about Canada than about the food and farming part of this blog - just today, in honour of our country’s birthday.

I originally wrote this article for the Byline, the newsletter of the American Agricultural Editors Association, but wanted to share it with readers of this blog as well. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

As printed in the Guelph Mercury, June 25 2009:

With the advent of summer, local food is on everyone’s lips — and increasingly also in their shopping baskets. It certainly is the trend of the moment, and one farmers are embracing wholeheartedly. So are communities that are launching farmers markets, new stores that are focusing on selling local products, and media who are profiling farmers and stores.

But what does “local” mean? From a specific region? Grown in Ontario? Product of Canada? Or simply from within a 100-mile radius, like the now infamous diet of the same name?
[Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

The following is part of an ongoing series of posts tracking Ontario’s foods and what’s currently in season.

After what seemed like an endlessly cool and wet spring, the arrival of summer in Ontario also means the long awaited start of strawberry season.

It’s an eagerly anticipated time of year in Ontario – one that this year took a bit of time to finally roll in. For many, there’s nothing quite like the juicy sweetness of an Ontario strawberry that ripened under our spring sun. I’m definitely a fan! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this:

The Holland Marsh area north of Toronto was the setting for a farm tour with Toronto area food writers in early June.

A group of about 30 food media and home economists – involved in everything from writing articles to recipe testing to authoring cook books – spent the day experiencing Ontario food and farms. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Share this: