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A tomato is a tomato, right? Well, yes, but also definitely no says a Leamington area greenhouse grower. Dean Tiessen of Pyramid Farms introduced a group of budding chefs to the breadth and depth of tomatoes on a recent tour of his farm by St. Clair College culinary students.  
Those are the keys to running a successful farming business, says grower Gerry Rochon. The Edwards ON-area farmer recently hosted Ottawa area food writers and home economists on his farm as part of ongoing efforts by AGCare and the Ontario Farm Animal Council to debunk myths related to food and farming. Guelph Mercury, August 01, 2008 The global food crisis is starting to hit home. Even here in Ontario where a strong farming sector produces an abundance of top quality food and exports much of it to other countries, higher food prices are becoming a fact of life. The growth of renewable fuels — especially ethanol whose main ingredient is corn — and the concept of growing plants for fuel instead of food are being pegged as the number 1 reason behind the rising food costs. This corn, the argument goes, is corn that should be going to feed people and not cars. The following editorial was published in the Waterloo Region Record on Friday August 1. Farmers doing more than their fair share for the environment Food and farming are never far from the collective consciousness of Waterloo Region. After all, we’re home to one of the most diverse agricultural areas in the province and our farmers’ markets – especially the market in St Jacobs – are popular destinations where we’ve been proponents of eating local food and supporting local farmers long before it became widely popular. The following editorial was published in the Guelph Mercury as a guest column July 18, 2008: http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/356131 ****** Our provincial government recently announced four million dollars of funding to put more Ontario food on our tables by supporting farmers markets and roadside produce stands. As a consumer in this era of food safety scares, environmental concerns and escalating costs, there is something very reassuring to me about buying high quality food produced by our farmers. The fact that by doing so we’re also supporting Ontario’s farming economy and helping to keep jobs in our province is an added feel good. Continue reading Farmers need real support
But this interest isn’t just related to the availability and cost of food. It’s also a hot topic on the gardening front – thanks to a relationship AGCare and the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program have built with Canadian gardening expert Mark Cullen.
The tour was hosted jointly by AGCare and our sister group, the Ontario Farm Animal Council, and attracted about 20 participants. |   | ||||
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