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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 
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 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
Terry Reesor is one such farmer. I met him last summer when I interviewed him for an article I was writing about solar energy. Here’s his story. Continue reading Reducing energy use on the farm
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
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 |   | |||||
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For anyone writing or blogging about farming, here’s a great resource for you.
The winter blahs have well and truly set in, especially for those of us who can’t escape by heading south. Last week’s few short days of warmth and sunshine seemed to transform our drab winter world as people reawakened and remerged. Everyone was talking about the weather those few days — because that’s what we do as Canadians, we talk about the weather.
You’re probably wondering what the connection could possibly be between condoms, food and farming.
Farms are, for the most part, pretty large energy users. Barns housing livestock, the use of sophisticated feeding or milking technology or climate control and water recycling systems in greenhouses – all require energy to keep going. So it’s no surprise, with energy costs on the rise, that many farmers are looking for ways to reduce or off-set their energy use.
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.
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.