Food and Farming Canada » environment

Apple grower featured in Faces of Farming calendar

Lilian — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:03:43 +0000

She was the winner of the Golden Apple Award for industry service and leadership at the 2011 OFVGA annual meeting. Now, in 2012, Cathy McKay will also be a calendar model.

She is the first-ever apple grower to be featured in the popular Faces of Farming calendar, produced annually to promote awareness of food and farming in [...]

Apples – organic or conventional?

Lilian — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:55:22 +0000

The debate over organic versus conventional agriculture is an ongoing one in the world of food production.

For one Ontario apple grower, though, that debate ended a decade ago after some firsthand research into the issue.

But first, a little bit of background.

If you’ve eaten apples from any of Ontario’s major supermarkets, chances are you’ve eaten a Martin’s [...]

Greenbelt farmers saving energy, survey shows

Lilian — Mon, 30 May 2011 12:59:13 +0000

A new study shows that energy saving initiatives by farmers in Ontario’s Greenbelt are conserving enough energy to power 1,788 homes annually.

And on-farm solar panel installations in the Greenbelt are generating enough electricity for an additional 170 homes, says the report completed by engineering consulting firm Agviro, Inc.

“Our study showed some really positive results related to [...]

Testing key to knowing what’s in your water – and protecting your farm

Lilian — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:14:24 +0000

Water testing has long been part and parcel of buying and selling agricultural properties. But knowing exactly what’s in your soil and well water is becoming increasingly important to safeguard both human health and property values.

E.coli O157:H7 is one pathogen that can have serious human health implications but that many people don’t realize may be [...]

What you probably didn’t know is happening on our farms

Lilian — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:06:01 +0000

Here’s a piece I wrote as a guest post for the Canadian Beef Blog.

Every day is Earth Day on the farm. This slogan has long been used by folks in agriculture to highlight how farming benefits the environment. The good news stories don’t get told is a common complaint I hear from the farmers and farm [...]

The whys and hows of building trust in our food

Lilian — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:59:20 +0000

Few relationships are more personal than the one we have with our food. We trust that what we eat will sustain us, nourish us and help keep us healthy.

In Canada, public trust in our food supply is high, a fact that’s been proven repeatedly in studies carried out by Ipsos Reid for AGCare and the Ontario [...]

Fabulous farming fotos

Lilian — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:05:17 +0000

For anyone writing or blogging about farming, here’s a great resource for you.

One of my biggest struggles is always trying to find current, accurate and available photos to go along with articles or blog posts.

The Ontario agriculture photo library has a wide array of available photos depicting many of the different aspects of farming in our [...]

Waxing about weather defines us

Lilian — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:31:33 +0000

The winter blahs have well and truly set in, especially for those of us who can’t escape by heading south. Last week’s few short days of warmth and sunshine seemed to transform our drab winter world as people reawakened and remerged. Everyone was talking about the weather those few days — because that’s what we do [...]

Reducing energy use on the farm

Lilian — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:08:16 +0000

Farms are, for the most part, pretty large energy users. Barns housing livestock, the use of sophisticated feeding or milking technology or climate control and water recycling systems in greenhouses – all require energy to keep going. So it’s no surprise, with energy costs on the rise, that many farmers are looking for ways to reduce [...]

Healthy Ontario farms will help us as supplies decline

Lilian — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:10:02 +0000

The crystal ball says we live in the best place in the world. Personally, I’ve long been convinced of it, having lived in this area for most of my life, but this is the opinion of a bio-economy expert who spoke at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre recently.

His perspective was a bit different from mine, [...]