|  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 these words but the truth may surprise you. The farmers I’m talking about farm in Belgium, in the fabled Flanders Fields made famous by the poem of the same name written by Canadian doctor John McCrae during World War I. Continue reading Where food, farming and bombs collide I’ve been blogging about food and farming for about two and a half years. Here are the top five most popular posts I’ve written on this blog during that time. Some of the earlier ones were posted before I linked this blog to Twitter, which is why you’ll see low or non-existant tweet counts on those pages. Continue reading Top five food and farming posts  One of the things I enjoy a lot about my job as a freelance food and farm journalist and corporate writer is the chance to learn about really cool new things.
The story below about soybeans, which I originally wrote for Ontario Grain Farmer and is published in the May/June 2010 issue, is one of these examples. It’s all about how the hulls of soybeans, leftover after the oil has been extracted from the bean, could be used to treat industrial waste water. Check it out: Continue reading Finding markets for the whole soybean – even hulls For many of us, the Internet is a vital part of our daily lives – business and pleasure. Personally, I have a hard time imagining my life without the Internet in it in some way shape or form. From a work perspective, I’m a freelance writer and communications project manager and my husband and I also have a web-based retail business. Socially, the Internet helps me stay in touch with friends and family far away and makes plans with those who are close by. Where am I going with this, you may ask? Continue reading Connecting rural Canadians to the Internet  This post is courtesy of fellow blogger and farm and food aficionado Tiffany Mayer. She writes in the Niagara Region – check out her blog, Eating Niagara or follow her on Twitter.
Len Troup has been doing something unusual this past week. The Jordan Station tender fruit grower has been farming. It’s a drastic change of pace from the previous weeks, when Troup, chair of the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers Marketing Board was spending more time in the political arena than his orchard. Continue reading Saving Ontario’s fruit farms Ontario’s farmers are using a town hall meeting in Stratford today to reach out to the public. The Save our Farms forum will focus on the beleaguered state of Ontario’s farming sector and on what the future of an Ontario without farming could look like down the road if nothing is done. Continue reading Plea from farmers: Save our farms  Consumers are looking for the full flavour of marbled pork and work is now underway to bring such products to the Ontario market.
Ontario Pork has taken the lead in working with farmers, retailers and processors to determine the level of marbling consumers want, evaluate different swine genetics and feeding regimens and assess the quality and consistency of carcasses.
Continue reading Meeting consumer demands for marbled pork | |
