|  You’re probably wondering what the connection could possibly be between condoms, food and farming.
At first glance, absolutely none – but the humour and the challenge in this little situation made it a bit too bizarre not to write about. As a blogger and freelance journalist, I receive pitches all the time from PR folks and product promoters, asking me to write about their issue, highlight their product or interview their experts. Ninety-nine per cent of these are absolutely not relevant to the content of this blog – no link to food, farming or Canada. The pitches vary in style, type and frequency but one I recently received was so out there in its lack of relevance that it really grabbed my attention. The product in question was a high end, eco-friendly luxury condom from France, being launched in the U.S. on National Condom Day (which apparently is today, February 10), conveniently a few days before that ultimate day of love, Valentine’s Day. Continue reading Food, farming and condoms  I’m in beautiful Banff today, giving a presentation to hog farmers and pork industry representatives on social media and how we can use it in agriculture.
It’s a bit of an event for me, for a number of reasons. First of all, I always like talking about social media and helping people gain an understanding of the different tools that are out there and what, with a little skill and practice, we can achieve by using them. Continue reading Banff, pork and social media  Most of us will agree that food – and the farming the brings us that food – are pretty essential to our quality of life. In fact, it’s one of the basic underpinnings of an orderly society. As we can see in other places around the globe not as fortunate as we are, hunger and high food prices lead to violence and protests.
We also know that our global population is rising – although the numbers vary slightly, most experts can agree that we’ll be in the range of nine billion inhabitants by the mid point of this century. All of those people will need food. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations last week raised concerns about a food crisis after reporting that its food price index had hit a historic high. According to their estimates, food production will have to increase 70 per cent by 2050 to keep up with demand. Continue reading Decision to cut food research makes no sense  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, though. While my ideas of why this is a great place to live are shaped by family, friends and lifestyle, his were focused on societal fundamentals, such as oil, water and food. John P. Oliver says our conventional supplies of oil, food and water will be surpassed by global demand by 2050. Continue reading Healthy Ontario farms will help us as supplies decline A new survey shows that our love affair with food and farming in Canada is intensifying. Personally I’ve long been an advocate but now some new Ipsos Reid numbers are showing that I’m not alone – the Canadian public’s positive perceptions of agriculture are on the rise. More than half – 57 percent – of Canadians surveyed have a positive impression of agriculture in this country, a figure that has risen 16 per cent since the survey was first conducted four years ago. In 2006, only 41 per cent of Canadians had a positive impression of Canadian agriculture and 52 per cent reported a positive impression in 2009. Continue reading Canadian love affair with food and farming heating up  Folks in food and farming talk a lot about all the things farmers do to protect the environment – but often in somewhat general terms.
Here’s a real life example in Terry, a farmer and business owner from the Stouffville area. I interviewed him this past summer for an article that I was writing and his story, to me, shows how relatively little things farmers are doing on their farms benefits all of society in the long run. In Terry’s case, it was a protective liner he installed in a fertilizer storage to ensure a beautiful pond on his property stays beautiful – and clean. Continue reading Protecting the environment – one farm at a time  Consumers, local food advocates and others ask me why more farmers don’t market their products – grains, meats, fruits and vegetables – directly to the end user.
Building that one-on-one relationship would help boost the availability of local food products, they argue, as well as protect farmers from fluctuating global commodity prices. It’s not quite that simple and it’s not a solution that works for everyone, I usually reply, but there are some farmers who are quite successful with it. Ontario soybean grower Harro Wehrmann is an example of one farmer who follows this model and does so very successfully. I interviewed him recently for a feature story in Ontario Grain Farmer – here’s how he’s found his niche growing and marketing organic soybeans directly to Mississauga food processor Sol Cuisine. Continue reading An Ontario farmer’s direct marketing success story | |
