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: 73

▶ 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

Secretary Rollins Takes Decisive Action and Shuts Down U.S. Southern Border Ports to Livestock Trade due to further Northward Spread of New World Screwworm in Mexico

Yesterday, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) reported a new case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico, which is approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid, on the eastern side of the country and 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border. This new northward detection comes approximately two months after northern detections were reported in Oaxaca and Veracruz, less than 700 miles away from the U.S. border, which triggered the closure of our ports to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses on May 11, 2025. While USDA announced a risk-based phased port re-opening strategy for cattle, bison, and equine from Mexico beginning as early as July 7, 2025, this newly reported NWS case raises significant concern about the previously reported information shared by Mexican officials and severely compromises the outlined port reopening schedule of five ports from July 7-September 15. There

University of Manitoba appoints Dr. Filiz Koksel as Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein

The University of Manitoba is pleased to welcome Dr. Filiz Koksel as the new Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein, a role that continues to advance sustainable agri-food innovation and leadership in plant and animal protein research and innovation. Dr. Koksel, an associate professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, leads an interdisciplinary research program that aligns closely with Manitoba’s Protein Advantage Strategy. She holds BSc and MSc degrees in Food Engineering and earned her PhD in Food Science from the University of Manitoba.  “My vision for this Chair is to position Manitoba as a global leader in sustainable protein innovation by uniting scientific discovery with industry partnerships,” said Dr. Koksel. “Together, we will create solutions that advance food security and climate resilience for generations to come.” Dr Koksel’s current work focuses on developing novel, environmentally friendly protein ingredients from crops such

Support staff recognized for contributions to Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Each year the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences calls for nominations of a support staff member or team who have made outstanding contributions in support of the teaching, research, service and outreach goals of the Faculty. At a celebratory barbecue to celebrate all nominees held on July 9, six individuals and four teams were recognized for their service to the Faculty. Sheldon Beichter, Technician, Carman Research Station Becky Dueck, Technician, Department of Plant Science Atanas Karamanov, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Minami Maeda, Technician, Department of Biosystems Engineering Finley Makila, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Donna Ryland, Technician, Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences Charlene Hawryluk, Wajiha Shahzad, Uldis Bourne, Jennifer St. Laurent, Dianne Dugald and Vanessa Ryplanski, Departments of Animal Science & Entomology and Glenlea Research Station Minami Maeda, Daniel Benedet an

Some crops look good and other not so good in Saskatchewan

A drive around Saskatchewan provides a wide range of crop conditions, based on rainfall received. Timely thunderstorms, combined with spring rain, are producing decent-looking crops in some locations, particularly the southeast. The poorest crops are in the southwest, but there are areas across the northern grainbelt that are much drier than normal as well. Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report puts provincial cropland topsoil moisture conditions at 55 percent adequate, 33 percent short and 12 percent very short. Many fields are at relatively uniform stages, but there is some inconsistent staging which is making spray timing challenging. Areas that have received moderate to high rainfall over the last few weeks are applying fungicides to some of their pulse, cereal and oilseed crops.

AGRI-FOOD 2050 Industry Event

The Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) is bringing industry leaders together to envision the future of agri-food in Ontario. The inaugural Agri-food 2050 Event will draw attendees from across the broader agri-food sector including representatives from primary agriculture, agri-business, food processing, agri-food research, and government.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service