| 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 For anyone curious about food and farming, this is your season! Fall means harvest and along with it come a multitude of opportunities to visit farms, talk to farmers and see first hand how our food is produced. You can find events in your area by checking in with your local farmers’ market, chamber of commerce or local food organization. Continue reading Farms up close and personal  It is really hard to find Ontario-grown garlic in our grocery stores. And yet there are farmers in our province that grow the pungent bulb – I know this because I’ve met some of them. I’ve even toured some farms.
So what’s up with the mystery of the missing garlic in our supermarkets?!? Continue reading Mystery of the missing garlic Hog farmers need help to survive and the best thing you can do to support them is to put Canadian pork on your fork. That’s the message behind a new TV commercial – produced by an Ontario swine veterinarian – that made it’s debut on the province’s airwaves this week. Continue reading Put pork on your fork to support farmers Those of us in the farming community have known for a while now that hog farmers are facing financial difficulties and need help. Thanks to the efforts of many, even mainstream media have picked up on the crisis in the pork sector. But although many use facts and figures to try to illustrate the point, to me, it’s the human aspect that really drives home the crisis affecting families on Ontario’s pig farms these days. A prime example of putting a face to the story is a wonderful letter to the editor in yesterday’s Guelph Mercury from Stewart Skinner, a young hog farmer from Listowel, Ontario. Continue reading A young farmer’s plea – support us by buying local food 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  The Holland Marsh area north of Toronto was the setting for a farm tour with Toronto area food writers in early June.
A group of about 30 food media and home economists – involved in everything from writing articles to recipe testing to authoring cook books – spent the day experiencing Ontario food and farms. Continue reading Telling the story of food and farming | |
