|  It’s become almost like an unofficial kick off to summer, sort of like our Victoria Day long weekend – an early anticipated milestone that marks the start of warm, sunny days. For me, that’s asparagus season.
Asparagus is one of the first crops of the new growing year that hits the market for consumption. Here in Ontario, that’s usually sometime in May. This year, I managed to score my first couple of bunches early last week – the store that had them sold out pretty quickly as demand was high and supply still rather limited as the crop was only just starting to be ready for market. Continue reading Wait for local Ontario asparagus is over! Farmers – are you frustrated by people who don’t understand what you do on your farm? Do you wish more consumers knew how food was produced or more politicians had a sense of the realities of farming? Many of us in agriculture have had these sentiments at some time and often feel helpless to do anything about them. There is an answer though – social media. It’s easy to use, reaches a wide base of people you wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to interact with and it’s free. Continue reading A difference in 10 minutes a day  There was good news in the provincial budget for farmers this week. The Ontario government announced new, permanent risk-management programs that farmers have long been asking for to help bring some much needed stability to notoriously fluctuating farm incomes.
Farm leaders have been making their case both federally and provincially about the need for this kind of support for a long time. A pilot program specifically for farmers who grow grains and oilseeds, like soybeans and canola, was announced four years ago and its success made it a model for other agricultural sectors also in need of long-term stability, like pork, beef, veal and fruits and vegetables. What makes farming so special that they need government-supported risk-management programs? Continue reading Long awaited support for local food and farming  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 Farm Animal Council (OFAC). But as increasingly fewer Canadians know how food is produced and where it comes from, those numbers won’t stay high forever. This means farmers need to become involved in the discussion about the future of farming and food production that is good for people, animals and the planet. Two food industry experts will discuss the whys and hows of building trust in Canada’s food system at the upcoming AGCare and OFAC annual meeting and speakers’ program. Continue reading The whys and hows of building trust in our food  Royal wedding fever is ramping up as we inch closer to the long-awaited nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
I remember watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer back in 1981…the sheer pomp and circumstance of it all was like a magical fairy tale to my six year old eyes! In Canada, of course, we have a special attachment to all things royal, given that the Queen is our head of state and her image graces our coins, bank notes and stamps. One local farm in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is getting in on the excitement too. Continue reading A royal jam  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 province. Continue reading Fabulous farming fotos We’re almost a month into the new year and some of us have already lost sight of the lofty exercise and weight loss goals we set for ourselves on Jan.1. We all start the year with good intentions — overflowing parking lots at most gyms during the first few weeks of January will attest to that — but as the weeks wear on, many of us fall off the proverbial wagon and end up straying from those resolutions. Overall, most of us think we’re in pretty decent shape. The numbers say otherwise, though. Continue reading Let’s take those new year’s resolutions seriously | |
