| The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) has long been a popular program but when the annual cost-share funding for 2009 was fully allocated in just over two months, program representatives were both surprised and pleased at the demand. One of the things driving the uptake of cost-share is the awareness that is developed through the EFP process. Since the launch of the third edition of the EFP in 2005, more than 11,000 farm businesses have attended workshops, developed EFP action plans and had them deemed appropriate through peer review. The results are a more environmentally informed sector, eligible to apply for cost-share funding to support environmental improvements on farms. Continue reading Farmers’ environmental commitment evident in program funding demand  When I came across a website that mentioned it would let me grow my own wheat online and follow it through right to my dinner plate, I have to admit I was intrigued.
I went to www.howwheatworks.com and signed myself up so I could get started. Faced with several different wheat types I could plant, I chose durum as I am totally addicted to pasta – and the majority of our pasta contains this particular kind of wheat.
Continue reading Grow your own pasta – virtually Here’s a great blog post about modern agriculture and bridging the gap between farmers and consumers. It’s written by Australian journalist Pip Courtney of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the Aussie equivalent of the CBC here in Canada), whom I had the opportunity to meet while attending the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) congress in Texas earlier this year.
Continue reading Presenting modern agriculture Growing numbers of farmers are turning to alternative agriculture and agri-tourism initiatives to help them earn a living. That message was illustrated by several speakers at the recent Canadian Farm Writers Federation annual meeting in Edmonton, Alberta earlier this month. Ron Hamilton, Mary Ellen Grueneberg and Doug Livingstone have each found a different niche for themselves, but they are bound by a common love of the land, passion for food and dedication to farming. Here are snapshots of their stories I heard while attending the conference. Continue reading Farmers turn to alternative agriculture  Normally, my posts here are somehow related to food or farming. But this one is more about Canada than about the food and farming part of this blog – just today, in honour of our country’s birthday.
I originally wrote this article for the Byline, the newsletter of the American Agricultural Editors Association, but wanted to share it with readers of this blog as well. Continue reading A few thoughts on Canada As printed in the Guelph Mercury, June 25 2009: With the advent of summer, local food is on everyone’s lips — and increasingly also in their shopping baskets. It certainly is the trend of the moment, and one farmers are embracing wholeheartedly. So are communities that are launching farmers markets, new stores that are focusing on selling local products, and media who are profiling farmers and stores. But what does “local” mean? From a specific region? Grown in Ontario? Product of Canada? Or simply from within a 100-mile radius, like the now infamous diet of the same name?
Continue reading “Local food” is a term that may grow  Farming – should we be focusing on food, feed, fuel or fibre?
That’s a question many are grappling with these days as agriculture spreads into areas beyond traditional production of food for people and feed for animals. Can we do it all? How can we do it sustainably? On a global scale, yet locally? Continue reading Food, feed, fuel or fibre? | |
