|  We’re in the middle of prime fruit and vegetable season. The heat and sun of the summer bring with them roadside stands, farmers markets and local food stores brimming with fresh, Ontario-grown produce. I, for one, as someone who supports local food production and values Ontario’s farmers, am in my element as I’m revelling in the seasonal bounty of our fields.
But this season also annually gives new life to the ongoing debate about whether or not we should be using crop protection materials in our food production. Earlier this summer, a U.S. activist group released its yearly list of fruits and vegetables they say consumers should avoid because they contain the highest levels of pesticide residues. Continue reading Reports on pesticide residue may be misleading  Farmers can safely dispose of their obsolete pesticides, unused animal health products and used sharps at collection sites across Ontario this week.
The CleanFARMS blitz program starts tomorrow and will run until October 22 as part of an Ontario government-supported Great Lakes Basin water quality initiative that offers farmers a free, safe way to recycle and dispose of these items. Continue reading Free farm disposal program starts tomorrow  The federal government has developed a series of suggestions for Canadians to be more environmentally conscious.
The tips – listed on a website called Take Action for the Environment – cover a variety of areas, but some of them, in my opinion, come directly from agriculture and represent things that farmers have been doing for years. For example: Continue reading Take action for the environment – by learning from farmers The following editorial, from the Ontario Corn Producers Association, is one of several that have been appearing in the media recently asking the Ontario government to focus on science rather than emotion when it comes to making policies that impact farmers. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has been vocal on the issue, as has AGCare and Guelph Mercury columnist Owen Roberts. But these words from the Corn Producers – although they echo the other voices – are my favourite.
***** Continue reading Farmers demand science-based policies The following article was printed in the Ontario Corn Producer, December 2008. By Lilian Schaer These days, it seems hard to predict what may happen with any degree of accuracy three months from now, let alone three years into the future. But although we live in volatile times, there are some fairly safe bets on what may lie ahead for farmers on the environmental front. Continue reading The green crystal ball The following editorial was published in the Waterloo Region Record on Friday August 1. Farmers doing more than their fair share for the environment
August 01, 2008
Lilian Schaer Food and farming are never far from the collective consciousness of Waterloo Region. After all, we’re home to one of the most diverse agricultural areas in the province and our farmers’ markets – especially the market in St Jacobs – are popular destinations where we’ve been proponents of eating local food and supporting local farmers long before it became widely popular.
Continue reading Farmers doing more than their share This column was printed in The Grower, June 2008: This year, April 22 marked the beginning of a new era in Ontario. It was the official unveiling of Premier McGuinty’s province-wide pesticide ban – promised during last fall’s election and somewhat surprisingly both kept and acted upon by the government in seemingly record time. Basically, Bill 64 proposes to amend the Pesticide Act to ban the sale and use of a specific list of pesticides – a list that includes 78 active ingredients and over 300 products – for cosmetic purposes. Continue reading Banning pesticides not the answer | |
