| In Western Canada, student enrolment at various agricultural colleges is on the rise. And an increasing percentage of students flocking to programs in animal, food, life and environmental sciences are coming from urban areas, which spokespeople at these institutions attribute at least partly to the growing public interest in agriculture and food. Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College hasn’t yet released its enrolment numbers for this year so I don’t know if this is purely a western phenomenon. I’m intrigued by it, however, especially in the face of a commonly used agricultural statistic — the average age of Canadian farmers. Statistics Canada tells us it’s approximately 52 years of age, which elicits hand-wringing and worry from some corners about agriculture’s future. Yes, it’s a high number, but at the end of the day, it’s just that — a number. On its own, it does little to tell the real story of what’s going on in food and farming. So who is the farmer of the future? Continue reading Dispelling dispair about the future of food and farming  Over the last week or so of everyone’s back to school preparations, I’ve been noticing a lot of coverage about school lunches and the dilemna of what to send with your kids. I didn’t realize this was such a problem – I’ve been out of school myself for quite some time and don’t have any kids in the system, so I didn’t realize how complicated a task making a lunch could be.
The biggest problem seems to be nut allergies, specifically to peanuts. So many kids are allergic – in some cases deathly so – that many schools have banned all peanut products from their premises. This includes peanut butter, a great, low cost protein source that together with jelly has been an iconic staple of school lunches for generations of Canadians. Continue reading Solving the peanut-free school lunch problem  We took advantage of the recent long weekend to spend a few days in the Kawartha region of Ontario. The village of Lakefield was our principle destination – and the highlight of our weekend a visit with our friend Jennifer MacKenzie. Jen and her husband, Chef Jay Nutt, own Nuttshell Next Door, a cafe in downtown Lakefield. Continue reading Checking out the local cafe
 Weetabix, a global cereal brand, is sponsoring a wheat art competition for Ontario farmers this year. Sounds a little out-of-the ordinary at first glance and I must admit it is. After all, cereal, art and farming aren’t usually things I tend to link in my head.
Ontario wheat farmers are encouraged to give their artistic selves free reign to express themselves by taking part in a competition to build the best straw bale sculpture in Ontario. Continue reading Weetabix mixing food, farming and art  Cows grazing on hillside pastures are a stereotypical – if often true – image of Switzerland. The Swiss are proud of their mountains and their pristine Alpine countryside. They’re also pretty serious about promoting homegrown food products.
One of the country’s leading supermarket chains, Co-op, sells a line of branded Swiss food products – milk, yogurts, meats, cheeses and more – that promotes sustainable mountain farming. Continue reading Retailer supports sustainable farming  When it comes to meat, Ontario consumers want protein that is lean and low in saturated fat – yet is still tender and flavourful.
This was the finding of a market research survey conducted recently by the Ontario Veal Association (OVA) to determine consumer perceptions and knowledge of veal and its health benefits. Continue reading Survey says: consumers seek lean, tender, flavourful meat options That’s what we wanted to know about the picture below when a group of us from the Eastern Canada Farm Writers Association recently paid a visit to an onion farm in the Holland Marsh. To us, it seemed like a bin of perfectly good onions, just waiting for someone to bag, buy, cook and eat. But that’s not so, according to Jamie Reaume, Executive Director of the Holland Marsh Growers Association. Judge for yourself: Continue reading What’s wrong with this picture? | |
