Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Why Is the World Taking Farming For Granted?

Anyone listen to the swinecast podcasts? One the other day featured a guy talking about all the stuff ready to hit the meat industry.

1. now meat takes too much water
2. meat takes too much energy
3. food in the US is too cheap
4. the US uses up too much of the worlds resources (this one's old)
5. we eat too much and we should be vegetarians
6. hsus is getting church's on board with their message
7. we are running out of water, energy and they'll probably find a way to say we're running out of sunlight.

Of course the solution is for us to grow more vegetables and have people give up in town jobs to work in the fields - I can see that happening - not. Maybe it's just a symtom of the type of leadership now and they'll be a significant backlash that stops it in it's tracks, but it feels like 'they' have more traction than ever.

It seems like everything we worked hard to achieve like food previously only available at a king's table know available to everyone cheaply is now a bad thing. Oh yeah, everyone is losing money producing pork and beef right now for these ungrateful consumers...


Does anyone else see it like this?

Views: 95

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on August 28, 2009 at 1:44pm
I hear yah loud and clear!
This past weekend a non-farmer who was touring our farm commented about how bad meat was due to the antibiotics and mistreatment. They want to buy organic produce and meat because their perception is that it is safer. A couple comments was "you do not let your children run in the field when you spray but you let them eat the produce that has been sprayed." Uhm - yeah! Then they carry on stating that there is so much chemical in the soil and within the produce... "You have no quams with feeding you children non-organic food?" Nope. I encourage it. "As long as it is Canadian." Then the lightbulbs started up again.
Yeah - there are some issues about meat and non-organic foods but with all the regulations we have in this country I do not see why we would be concerned about perceptions from activist groups in other countries. It is similar to the "food scare" last year that had some consumers fired up. Did anyone see empty store shelves in Canada? Did anyone go hungry because the food was not there in Canada?
We are not running out of water or energy - other countries are. Hence the reason they are buying our water.
Not saying we should stand in the hot shower for 30 minutes....
Permalink Reply by Joe Dales on August 29, 2009 at 2:52am
Hi Wayne: Consumers think that way because mass media is giving them some info like in Food Inc....

I have not had the chance to see the following movie but here is the trailer and a review from one of our western Canadian farmers from our Agri-ville.com website....


DaretoDiffer Said
"The movie/documentary had some points, especially about Monsanto but all of its puffed up pious outrage didn't go anywhere and I was wanting to respond often with "And your point is .....? The guy from the American Corn Growers who popped up a lot in the film, seemed to be in the employ of the anti-farm business theme of the piece. With friends like this, who needs the urban commentators. And Eric Schlosser the main commentator and author of Fast Food Nation, is not a journalist but an author/commentator with an axe to grind. A real poster boy for PETA. "


The issue is that it is easy to sensationalize our food because consumers do think it is important to them...

Agriculture needs to realize that it has to tell it's side of the story. Groups like AgCare and OFAC are doing the best they can to get the message out but really don't have the budgets of Hollywood or Time.

Big challenges,

Joe
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on August 29, 2009 at 5:09am
You are correct Joe. When we have a choice between organic, local, imported (whether it is labelled is another story), natural, sugar free, fat free, cholesterol free... instead of the choice between food or no food, we obviously do not have a food shortage. It is easy to "sensationalize" because of this. It was mentioned on Thursday (Aug 27) about Babe the movie and Bambi - makes a person not eat meat.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Three Agricultural and Food Sciences profs recognized with emeriti title

Three retired faculty members were named professors emeriti in 2025 for their distinguished service to the University of Manitoba: Dr. Harold Aukema, Dr. Ying Chen and Dr. Qiang Zhang. The title is one of the University’s highest honours. Individuals are selected on their distinguished service to teaching, research, creative and scholarly works and service. Each of the awardees contributed to the Faculty and UM throughout their accomplished research and academic careers. Their nominations read: Harold Aukema, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences A dedicated faculty member for 26 years, Dr. Harold Aukema has made transformative contributions to nutritional science, becoming a global leader in the study of diet and fatty acid metabolites, known as oxylipins. His pioneering research has advanced understanding of dietary interventions for kidney health, directly shaping national and international dietary recommendations for polycystic kidney disease. He has published more than 150 peer-

Grow Canada: Strengthening our Voice, Sharpening our Tools

Grow Canada took place in Calgary, AB, December 2-4. It captured the best ideas from a sharp lineup of speakers and panellists, and built the kind of connections that turn good ideas into action. Connecting farmers, dietitians, industry and content creators, it connects everyone to talk about our agriculture industry and discuss the challenges it faces. The main themes were advocacy, artificial intelligence (AI) and inflation. Canadian agriculture is an economic engine that drives jobs, exports and innovation. Our story lands when we tell it consistently. That means increasing our lobbying efforts, showing up with data and farm-level examples, and making the economic case for stable rules, competitive infrastructure, and market access. Advocacy isn’t a side project; it’s risk management for our next decade. AI is like a wrench in the toolbox; useful when pointed at the right bolts. For best results, we need to be repetitive, rules-based, have documents prepared, regulatory submission

Stock Talks connect producers, municipal officials

When Curtis Vander Heyden of Picture Butte’s Grandview Cattle Feeders Ltd. attended Lethbridge County’s Stock Talks in October, he was prepared to discuss some of the challenges his family’s operation faces but did not expect immediate action. “I did attend the Lethbridge County Stock Talks and it led to the operations manager Ryan Thomson, reaching out and coming to one of my locations for a ‘one-on-one’ so we could both air our frustrations about the past management of the road infrastructure and elaborate on what we could change and work together on,” Vander Heyden says. He appreciated the opportunity to meet with a municipal official for a boots on the ground interaction. “It was the first time in recollected memory that anyone from the County of Lethbridge not only took the time, but actually asked for continued input,” Vander Heyden says. Indeed, the Stock Talks he attended provided an organized and moderated environment to have meaningful two-way discussions with municipal o

Province of Manitoba Commits Second Round of Funding for Gate

Cereals Canada today announced that it has received an additional $10.5 million in funding support from the Province of Manitoba for the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate). This investment brings the total pledged by the Province to $23.5 million. “I would like to thank the Province for its continued support of Gate, and Premier Wab Kinew for championing this project over the last nine months,” said Dean Dias, CEO of Cereals Canada. “Today’s announcement puts us another step closer to getting shovels in the ground at a critical time for Canadian agriculture.” Gate is a new $102-million, state-of-the-art facility being developed by Cereals Canada in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is envisioned as a world-class hub for research, training, and international collaboration to ensure the long-term competitiveness of Canada’s cereals industry. “A strong Manitoba economy depends on helping our agricultural producers reach new markets,” said Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kost

Saskatchewan Exports Continue to Support Food and Energy Security Worldwide

Today the Ministry of Trade and Export Development provided data on Saskatchewan's global exports. Despite a challenging year, where international trade disputes, tariffs and geopolitical events have disrupted trade to traditional markets, Saskatchewan exports are making their way to different markets across the globe. "Saskatchewan products are being sent to over 160 countries, helping to ensure food and energy security for billions of people," Trade and Export Development Minister Warren Kaeding said. "Saskatchewan exports, and the value of those exports continues to grow. Here at home these exports are essential for creating jobs and providing services and infrastructure that ensure the great quality of life for the people of Saskatchewan."  Highlights include: In the first nine months of 2025, one of the top destinations for Saskatchewan products in South America was Brazil, where exports totaled $1.3 billion dollars, primarily in potash.  Exports to Japan have grown considerabl

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service