New beginnings..

Please stop by and check out my new agricultural blog at Stories From a Farmer’s Daughter!!!

Sadly, I will not be blogging here anymore on my wordpress platform- Stores From a Country Girl.

 

Speak Up and Be Heard!

Being an agvocate can be timely and somewhat challenging. Sometimes when your sharing your opinions on why farmers matter and why consumers should care, you get backlash that you weren’t expecting making for some challenging responses that you have to craft.  And in order to stay on top of what is happening in the “ag news world,” you must always be constantly searching, finding, reading, and replying to stories on agriculture that need your attention which can be timely and consuming.

But after all the time you put in and challenges you overcome to get your opinion and point across, it all makes it worthwhile once the good word has spread and has hopefully resonated with at least one person.

Take for example, a recent Letter to the Editor that my family and I found in the April 2011 Better Farming magazine. Better Farming is an Ontarioagricultural-focused magazine published every month. Inside the first few pages of the April issue, was a letter which got my family pretty wound up. We had to remember though, that the writer of this letter, was a Grade 10 student from a school deep within the city limits ofTorontoand the surrounding area- Mississauga. The student was quick to point out “that farming has become too much of a business… is all about getting the job done the quickest and cheapest way rather than doing it the right way.” He also thought that animals are being treated “horrendously through unspeakably barbaric practices.” He talked about antibotics, pesticides and hormones and said farmers “are not nurtering and feeding the animals in the healthy way they are supposed to be.”

Now as a farm family who cares for their cows in the utmost conditions 24-7, my family and I were disappointed (but not surprised) that a child in the city thinks this about all farmers. Perhaps this student had one bad experience or more than likely, saw a television show or read an article from an American source that put farmers all under the same spotlight.

So, I got my laptop out, and started typing furiously away. And what was the end result? A well-written Letter to the Editor which I sent in that I was told, is going to be published in one of their upcoming issues. My only hopes, if no one else reads my Letter to the Editor, is that the student who wrote the inital Letter to the Editor, now reads my letter. In my letter, I offered for the student, and his class, to come visit my family’s dairy farm to see the TLC we provide for our cows each and every day, in the most humane way possible.

Here is an exert from my Letter to the Editor response:

If Jeff visited one of the many farms across Canada, he would quickly come to realize that farming is not all about “getting the job done the quickest and cheapest way,” rather, farmers put their blood, sweat, and tears into their everyday, 24/7 job. 98% of all farms in Canada are family owned and operated so as much as Jeff believes that our farming industry has become “big business,” I hope he realizes that behind each high-quality, safely grown product that he eats, there is the face of a family standing behind that product 100%. 

I would certainly be willing to visit Jeff and his classmates to properly educate them on the TRUTHS of agriculture inCanadaif they would have me visit. In fact, if Jeff and his classmates wanted to make the trek toHastings, my family and I would certainly love to host his class for the day to show them how much hard work, time and passion we put into caring for our animals on our family dairy farm.

For all you agvocates out there, keep up the awesome work of spreading the good word! Even if your letters, blog posts, comments, Facebook updates or Tweets reaches only one person, that is one more person who knows about the good word of Agriculture!!!!!

 

Agriculture- a hot topic lately

I am a strong supporter of discussing agriculture whether it be good or bad, positive or negative, or just to spark a debate. I think it’s really important discussing things like where food comes from, how animals are raised, and why consumers pay what they do which helps educate people on the Canadian agricultural industry. Farmers have always been criticized for not educating the public enough on their products, and large strides have been made in recent years to try to educate the consumer to ensure they understand where their food is coming from and appreciate the efforts of our Canadian farmers.

As an avid Globe and Mail reader, I can’t help but notice lately, that the Globe and Mail has been writing and featuring quite a few articles, editorials and open discussions on agriculture, which is great to see! What is hard to sometimes stomach though, are the somewhat skewed, one-sided articles which misinterpret facts or leave out important points that may lead the consumer to believe one thing, when in fact it’s completely not true. What has also been very disappointing, are the reader comments after some of these skewed articles. While some readers have defended Canadian farmers and brought forth valuable points and arguments that I would raise if I commented; it is still disheartening to view reader comments that are so not researched, so skewed and so not in touch with the current agricultural climate. What I find the most disappointing, are those consumers who say they want cheap products, at the expense of whoever while not caring where their food comes from, what conditions it is made under and who it does/does not support… all for the few savings of a buck or two.

Some can disagree with me on my observations. But as a dairy farmers daughter, I feel especially, like management systems in Canadian agriculture, like the supply management system, are being heavily scrutinized by Globe and Mail writers as of late. It’s as if they have an underlying political agenda to reap havoc on the supply management system by pointing out all the negatives about the system while forgetting to mention the positives of the supply management system and the positives to Canadian’s paying higher prices for their agricultural goods.

Did I miss the memo from the Globe and Mail this past month? Was it agricultural-awareness month? What is with all of these articles on agriculture, and more specifically, trying to discredit the Canadian agricultural industry in some way. Like I mentioned above, I am all for discussion on agriculture so hats off to the Globe and Mail for writing and featuring so many articles and open forum discussions on agriculture but please, let’s try and have a balanced approach with a few articles that highlight the positives of our agricultural industry and discuss the positive reasons why the Canadian agriculture is respected around the World!

For those of you who may not have had a chance to catch up on your Globe and Mail reading, the following are articles Globe and Mail has published in the past few weeks about agriculture:

• The Hunger for more ambition in Canadian agriculture Nov. 26
• For U.S. farmers, subsidies the best cash crop- Nov.25
• Boardroom farmers: Some of the World’s biggest agricultural investors Nov.24
• The Growing Problem: Canada slips from agricultural superpower status Nov. 23
• New business model grows family farm into global player Nov.23
• Canadian’s don’t know the price of milk Nov.23
• What’s on your plate? Canada lags in tracing food for safety and profit Nov.22
• Why Canadian agriculture is no longer a world leader Open discussion on Nov. 19
• How Canadian dairy farmers milk Canada’s taxpayers Oct. 21

*Please note: For any stories above that are not linked, my blog wouldn’t allow me to link the articles. Please copy and paste the title of the article into Globe and Mail‘s search box at the top if you’d like to read the article.

Make sure to also stop back as I will be writing about one selective article listed above which I have a pretty strong opinion on and feel the Globe and Mail needs to hear from a farmers perspective. I will post a longer version of my letter to the editor that I’m sending into the Globe and Mail.

 

Where your cheese curds at?

I had a really bad cheese curd experience a few weeks ago. I should have known better though so I will take the blame.. somewhat.

Up until this bad experience, I had only tried 2 kinds of cheese curds- a majority from Empire Cheese which is a company about 20 minutes away from home in Campbellford, Ontario. Their cheese curds are delicious! The only other company I have tried cheese curds from was Thornloe Cheese situated in Northern Ontario in Thornloe, Ontario close to New Liskeard. Thornloe’s cheese curds are always a hit at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and have some delicious different kinds that I’ve tried- my favourite being the dill seasoned cheese curds.

So up until my bad experience, I feel like I had tasted the “best of the best” in the cheese curd world. Until I tried the cheese curds I bought that one dark night from the Bulk Barn.

Yes, you heard me right. I purchased cheese curds from the Bulk Barn- Canada’s largest bulk food  distributor that many candy lovers may know. Its a store that carries everything from bulk candy to bulk nuts/soups/powders/baking ingredients, etc. And of course, they carry cheese curds. I should have known better when I didn’t see a proper label on the package to indicate which company these cheese curds actually came from and come on, who purchases cheese curds from Bulk Barn?! I had a really bad craving I tell ya…

So when I got home, opened up the bag with excitement and so much anticipation that these curds would taste exactly like the ones I had ate up until this point, I was thoroughly disappointed and somewhat distraught at the taste of these little things. They were horrible! And the worst part, I didnt’ even know where they came from or what they were made of because the labelling on the package was so well.. non existent!

I would love to tell you that I went back, asked to speak to the Manager, found out where the cheese curds were from, and insisted that they must try and purchase from some of Ontario’s best cheese curd companies, but the truth is, I haven’t been back. I am seriously so scared to step into the store again because of my horrible cheese curd experience, that I haven’t been back SINCE.

I know this is the wrong thing to do though. As a concerned customer/dairy farmer, I should go back and ask Bulk Barn where they get their cheese curds from. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that these were not Ontario or Canadian cheese curds- this wasn’t a personal preference taste-testing experience. This was a- I think these are fake and not real Canadian cheese curds experience. And so, I will head back to Bulk Barn in the next week or so to ask where the cheese curds came from. I will be glad to share what I learn from the store.

Has anyone else had a bad cheese curd experience? Where do you normally buy your cheese curds from?! Let’s hope they a product of Ontario

 

Farmers need to continue to have a voice…

After another fantastic Royal Winter Fair and a few debates in the past couple of weeks that have sparked my attention, I feel compelled to start up my writing again at Stories From a Country Girl. It has been a while- months in fact, so I apologize for my absence.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks with a few different articles/debates that have caught my eye- this article back in October infuriated me (I promise to write another blog post dedicated solely to this topic).  Then there was this promising article also written in the Globe and Mail about Agriculture being the “next big thing.”

And of course just last week at the Royal Winter Fair, there were a few different times when I thought “wow, this would be a great blog post idea” and so, here I am. Ready to share, and ready for someone to listen.

I think the one main thing that really hit me last week at the Royal, was that farmers need to continue to have a voice- whether it be by educating, writing, blogging, social networking, and/or yelling (if need be but not the best recommended approach- hence the Lisa Simpson cartoon). The one major gap between rural and urban is the lack of communication between the two. Its no one’s fault in particular- you could equally blame each party if you wanted too. But it really struck me, that as a dairy farmers daughter and agricultural enthusiast, it is my duty to help spread the good word about farmers, farming and the whole agricultural industry and do my part to help bridge the gap between rural and urban audiences.

Make sure to check back as I have lot to say.. I mean, post

Hope all those that made it to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair had a blast.. I know I sure did!

 

P.S……

Hope you like the new look! Thought I would change it up since it has been a while!

Hopefully you didn’t land on my blog and think it was the wrong one

 

It has been awhile…

Let me first off apologize for my absence. I have did the blogging unthinkable.. I have not posted since the beginning of the New Year. Shame on me!

With the start of a new job at the end of 2009, my time has been very limited to have time to sit down and write a post dedicated to agriculture.

Please be assure though that I am keeping up on my agricultural events and know-how and have by no means lost my *spark* and *passion* for this amazing industry!

I have some blog posts that I am beginning to write so I can continue to share ideas and opinions with readers. I appreciate all the great comments and feedback you have left on my blog thus far and hope for more in the near future.

I appreciate the opportunity to agriculturally communicate with all of you!

Look forward to having me back and hearing more from this Country Girl!

Christina

 

Ontario Cabinet Shuffle means the Agricultural Industry meets a new Minister!

After the announcement on January 18th that Premier Dalton McGuinty shuffled his Cabinet, the Agricultural Industry now has a new face- and that face is Carol Mitchell, our new Ontario Agricultural Minister.

A surprise move from McGuinty saw Veteran Agricultural Minister Leona Dombrowsky move from the Agricultural portfolio to the Ministry of Education. Our new Minister has an extensive bio, with previous experience in the Agricultural portfolio as the Parliamentary Assistant in 2005.

I’ve been told that Mrs. Mitchell has agricultural-related experience through her family’s beef farm in Huron County.  Carol also brings a wealth of knowledge from many other Ministries including Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as well as experience as the Chair of the Ontario Liberal Caucus.

While many farmers and agricultural producers across the province may be sad to see the Honourable Leona Dombrowsky leave after building strong ties in the past five years, it is also exciting to see a new face with fresh ideas and see where she takes the future of the Ontario Agricultural industry.

I will be happy to report in coming months who the Honourable Carol Mithcell is, and what her platform is on where she’s taking Ontario Agriculture.

 

Maybe consumers are the faces behind factory farms?

Fellow agricultural communicator/blogger/friend Stefanie wrote on her blog Stefanie’s Thoughts about an article she recently read in the Ottawa Citizen about a new book entitled “Eating Animals” which really hit a nerve with her. Stef and I share similar interests, backgrounds,  and views so when Stef mentioned this interesting article, I knew I had to click on the link to find out what all the hype was about.

Upon reading the article about author Jonathan Safran Foer and his new book “Eating Animals”, I came to one conclusion which you can agree or disagree with me on.

The root of the problem with factory farming is- Consumers are the supporters of these factory farms whether they know it or not through insisting on cheap food.

Besides the obvious complaints and statistics that author Johnathon had to back his story (which we hear so often) about how terrible factory farming is, the following paragraph really hit home for me which supports my statement above:

“We eat much more meat than we used to (Americans, according to Foer, eat 150 times more chicken than they did 80 years ago), and we want it cheap. The only way to produce that much meat that cheaply leads to some very nasty practices. (I’ll spare you the worst of it.)”

Does this not make you think that maybe we should be looking at consumers primarily as a way to stop the consumer-driven market of “cheap meat.” I mean, consumers drive everything that farmers do- that is what the market is all about. Supply and demand.  Farmers provide food for the people who want it.

If people decided one day that they wanted to pay more for their chicken, pork or beef and would be willing to pay more to see animals raised more humanely than maybe chicken farmers wouldn’t be pressured to put one more bird in that cage or pig farmers wouldn’t raise too many pigs in tight living quarters to compensate for their high costs of production and low profits they receive in return.

But, I am not blaming factory farming entirely on the consumer. I realize that farmers make a choice to how they want to farm- whether it be  on a smaller family farm like my family’s dairy farm, or by choosing to farm hundreds or thousands of cattle or chickens. I guess it all comes down to the bottom line for each producer/farmer- how do they make the most money possible? That is a fair question to ask themselves- doesn’t everyone in the World ask themselves each day how they can try and make more money to try and be better off?

Can you imagine if every consumer actually was willing to pay MORE for their food instead of insisting on CHEAPER food? And can you imagine if the “middle men”- processors- were willing to give farmers more for their products instead of cheap prices so they can make huge profits? Maybe  if farmers received more money for their product through consumer awareness and higher price initiatives, farmers could actually implement better and safer farming practices so we could one day see the demise of factory farms.

Come on consumers, rally together and change the face of farming! I believe its up to you!

Its just my thought though… what do you think?!

 

The latest fad for scientists- meat eaters are killing our planet?

I always like searching the Globe and Mail for thought provoking articles that resonate with me. Usually, they are articles that pertain to something around agriculture or what the writer (most likely an “urbanite” thinks of agriculture) so you have to take the stories as they are.

I came across this article this morning entitled “Are meat eaters killing the planet?”  and quickly clicked on it to read it- it had to be controversial- especially in my mind when I am far from being a vegetarian or vegan of any kind. I like to support my fellow farmers and eat as much meat as possible.

To begin the article, 2 scientists were quoted as saying ““Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases” and “livestock generate more than half of all global greenhouse-gas emissions – more than the combined impact of industry and energy. (The previously accepted figure was 18 per cent.) Most of the problem is caused by methane-emitting cows.”

Now these are obviously two smart individuals who have worked hard to garner their titles of “scientists” but really, are these comments intelligent? Did they ever think that if people DIDN’T eat meat, then there would be a lot more “methane-emitting cows” walking the earth, and hence even worse global warming?! Or perhaps they even failed to mention or look at other factors that come to my mind SO much quicker than methane-emitting cows- say the billions of people that our earth cannot sustain, or maybe the increase in motorized vehicles? ! Would you have even thought oh my!

I think its so funny that people always jump on the bandwagon to yet again, try and push farmers out of business. For readers in an urban area that read this rubbish, perhaps they will believe it and stop eating meat altogether like these scientists suggest. And then its a ripple effect and before you know it, everyone isn’t eating meat because “it causes global warming!” Rubbish I say.

Yet again, here is another instance where education to the consumer is key before everyone stops eating meat altogether thinking its going to combat global warming!

Although the author of the article didn’t quite wrap up the story and finish it as she started- discussing the implications of eating meat- I still found it interesting enough that people (scientists) would be enticing people to stop eating meat.

I think they would have an even bigger problem on their hands if people stopped eating meat…  maybe the scientists should have thought of that before they go and start accusing meat eaters that we are causing the problem of global warming and climate change?!