Food and Farming Canada » IFAJ 2010

Where food, farming and bombs collide

Lilian — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:33:59 +0000

When they’re planting their crops, farmers in this area must always keep an eye out for unexploded bombs. Their lands were once battlefields and the dangerous remnants of those conflicts are still a threat today, decades after the end of hostilities.

Now any number of war-torn corners of the world may come to mind as you read [...]

A floral paradise

Lilian — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:52:22 +0000

Imagine an 11 acre indoor garden with two kilometres of walking paths, 776 cubic feet of soil, 4736 square feet of pond surface and 300,000 visitors over eight days.

That’s the world famous Floralies of Ghent, an incredible floral and plant exposition that takes place once every five years – a tradition that’s been ongoing for [...]

An IFAJ congress in food and drink

Lilian — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:42:02 +0000

Last month, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress, which took place in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Much to my satisfaction – as one who really loves to eat – food and drink played a key role in this gathering of those who write about food and [...]

Return of the ash

Lilian — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:25:49 +0000

There was a bit of deja-vu in the air along with the ash as I read in the news this morning that an airport-closing plume had made another appearance in Britain.

It seems a bit like old news now – but a few short weeks ago, the impossibly-named volcano in Iceland that had somehow managed to [...]

Luxembourg’s green wines

Lilian — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:12:42 +0000

The Moselle region of Luxembourg produces some fantastic wines – which we’ve been lucky enough to sample abundantly during our three day visit to the country this week. The tour was part of the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) congress that is being hosted this week in Ostende, Belgium.

The wines of Luxembourg take many forms, [...]

In a palace by the sea

Lilian — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:38:42 +0000

Well, we’ve finally arrived in lovely Ostende, a city on the Belgian coast and our home base for the next few days. And we are among the lucky ones – it looks like about half of our IFAJ colleagues either never got off the ground or are stranded at airports in various parts of the world. [...]

Discovering Luxembourg wine country

Lilian — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:38:30 +0000

It was the day of wines – bubbly wines, white wines, pink wines and even red wines. The Moselle wine area of Luxembourg is a gem and one I didn’t even know existed.

We started off the day at Wormeldange cellars of the Domaines De Vinsmoselle, united winegrowers since 1921. They make a fabulous series of [...]

Meeting the little man that pees

Lilian — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:52:49 +0000

The great Belgian adventure of 2010 is underway…and I spent less than 24 hours in Belgium before leaving that country for another. At the moment I am in Luxembourg, where we’ll be spending the next three days of our IFAJ 2010 pre-congress tour.

IFAJ is the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists – and this year I’m fortunate [...]

Young Leader Award winners announced

Lilian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:01:44 +0000

Some great news to start off the week: I have just learned that I am one of the winners of the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders Award this year!

This means I’ll be attending the 2010 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congress in Belgium this spring as one of ten young leaders from around the world. The award is [...]