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:

*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.

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