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 | Spending a lot of time in airports and on airplanes gives you plenty of time to think about random things. And right now I’m wondering about the rationale behind corporations who re-name themselves with these non-descript names or acronyms that don’t actually mean anything to anyone hearing them. Continue reading A little rant…because I can   Although I’ve been home from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress for close to a week, I’m still getting caught up on posts as I finish working my way through the last couple of days of the event. This next one is making me hungry just thinking about it – must be because it’s morning and I haven’t had breakfast yet! Continue reading From fruit to feed and food When attending an agenda-packed international event like the recent IFAJ Congress, it’s all you can do to focus on the moment. Day after day we were kept scurrying from one event to another and from one farm visit to the next. We often left our hotels by 7 a.m. and didn’t return until late in the night. Given this pace, there was only time to superficially process our newly-gained experiences on a very fragmented basis as we frantically wrote notes and snapped photos that would help to jog our memories at a later date. Continue reading Processing the experience We have known since we arrived in Austria that we might have some difficulties getting home from the IFAJ congress because of some bad flight scheduling on our part – inadvertent but still our fault. But neither Kelly nor I had any idea of how hard it is to get there from here, or that we would be eternally grateful for the kindness of an Austrian bus driver who took pity on two stressed out Canadians.
For me, pumpkin is indelibly linked to that sure-fire sign of fall, pie. But here in the Styrian region of Austria, pie is the furthest thing from their minds and pumpkin production is booming.
But in the mountainous northern regions of the Austrian province of Styria, some entrepreneurial farmers are not only making a living by farming on the alpine pastures, they’re also revitalizing rural communities and keeping ancient traditions alive. Today, in Austria, we stepped off of our bus and into the middle of a postcard. High up in the mountains, the scenery fulfilled every stereotype I’ve ever had about this country. Cow bells could be heard in the distance. A babbling brook twisted alongside the roadway. Every home was a flower-laden chalet and, to the eye’s delight was mountain after mountain after mountain. I could have stayed there forever.
What made it even more unusual was that we were touring an average mountain beef farm. I’ve been to a lot of impressive beef farms in Ontario but none have the view of these, to be sure. Continue reading Beef farming in a postcard setting |   | ||||
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Much of Austria is covered in pastoral mountainside fields – beautifully scenic but largely unsuited for agriculture.