Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

AALP Class 13 International Study Tour to Guatemala and Belize – March 1, 2011

Power to Women. We had a very unique cultural experience this morning when we visited the Garifuna School and Museum in Dangriga. The Garifuna are a people of African-Caribbean descent and while the Garifuna make up 30% of the population of Belize, the culture, music and language are being lost to English and North American culture. Phyllis Taremaro, the founder of the school and museum welcomed us and then the children impressed us with cultural songs, the national anthem and morning prayers before heading to class. We were able to tour the humble classrooms and experience the learning environment. This school is one of the rare schools which teaches the Garifuna language.


We took a tour of the Garifuna museum where we learned the history, the tragedies and the triumphs of their culture and the country of Belize. We were then treated to a wonderful display of traditional music and dance. There were four female dancers, one singer, two male drummers and one maraca player. One of the dancers was 69 years of age and still had more moves than any of us!


Phyllis was so proud to show us her culture and so humble to talk of her accomplishments as a community leader. She then took us on a tour of the community, showing us a drum maker and a cassava bread bakery, presently led by young women. Phyllis even invited us to her home where she served us a traditional Garifuna meal. While inside her house we noticed, she had won the 2010 leadership award for women in Belize.


Marie Sharp is also a leader in her community. She started as an executive secretary at the citrus processing plant, which we visited on Monday, only to have her life change when she inherited some farm land. Failing to find a market for her high value crop of habañero peppers, Marie began filling up pails with her home blender in her garage with the product of her good idea. She started the multi-million dollar company she is still directing today. At 71 years old, Marie Sharp has been through tough times and great opportunities with her company but managed to make it one a pride of Belize. Marie Sharp’s hot sauce and products are now distributed around the world, in dozens of countries, including Canada, and is the number one hot sauce across Belize! In fact, her sauce was on almost every table we sat at for the last ten days. To this day, Marie still designs new recipes from her humble factory but now stores her peppers in several huge tanks. Three containers were waiting to be filled for a Japanese order; they were just waiting for bottles to fill them with her special concoction of habañero – so delicious! Marie told us how hard work is the key to success and sure told us what she thinks of sitting down in her factory!


Truly this day showed us the power of women and educational involvement can do for a community.

 

Andrew Chisholm, Matt Langford, Michel-Antoine Renaud – AALP Class 13

Views: 128

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

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

Choosing Malting Barley for 2027? Market Demand Could Be Key

Canadian malting barley acres are shifting toward newer varieties. CDC Churchill reached 13.7 per cent of Western Canadian acres in 2026, while AAC Synergy retained the top spot at 37.6 per cent. Recommended Varieties

China extends tariff relief for peas, canola meal

China has extended significant tariff reductions on Canadian peas, canola meal, lobster and crabs for another two years after a meeting in Beijing between Chinese officials and International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu. The announcement, part of a deal struck recently, removes a cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over Canada’s agriculture and seafood sector. The tariff reductions, set to expire on Dec. 31, have been extended to the end of 2028, Sidhu said in a statement from Beijing. The suspended tariffs include 100-per-cent levies on peas and canola meal and 25-per-cent on lobster and crab. Shipments of these products for the first eight months of the year reached $1-billion, according to Sidhu’s office. “This extension gives farmers, producers and harvesters predictable access to the Chinese market, and it’s how we will grow our exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030 to create good-paying jobs and new opportunities for businesses across Canada,” Sidhu said.

Cyclists in another Ontario town worried they’ll lose some bike lanes

The Great Bike Lane Battle of Ontario™ isn’t just happening in Toronto. We’ve already seen several places in the province who are fearful that some of the Toronto removals, and plans to remove more or kibosh future lanes, might affect them. It began over two years ago when Premier Doug Ford’s government passed legislation that changed the way municipalities can create bike lanes. Essentially, the province can now dictate the way towns or cities can create cycling infrastructure that may reduce car lanes. The bill also quite specifically targeted several sections in the city which it planned to remove lanes. After a long legal battle—which included a Charter challenge put forth by cycling advocates, which was ultimately appealed and won by the province—the first round of lane removals began. The Ontario bike lane brouhaha In early October, crews set out to get rid of a 1.2-km section of protected bike lanes on Bloor Street West in the west part of the city. For days, cyclists and s

Eggs of invasive moth detected for the first time in Great Lakes region in Detroit, U.S. says

The eggs of an invasive moth known to be a voracious consumer of trees have been discovered for the first time in the Great Lakes region on a vessel in the Port of Detroit, according to U.S. Customers and Border Protection. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the specimens came from two distinct subspecies of the flighted spongy moth complex native to Asia. The steel-carrying cargo ship had arrived in Detroit from South Korea via Hamilton. “It's very concerning because … spongy moth is one of those moths whose caterpillars feed on the foliage of a large number of tree species,” said Richard Hamelin, a professor of forestry at the University of British Columbia. He worked with the USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on a DNA test to differentiate the Asian and European varieties of the moth. “My guess is that this [is] being an alarm … bell … because … if there's one ship that had eggs, then … there was … some kind of a breakdown in the inspection or maybe t

Lambton County farmers near end of harvest thanks to favourable weather

Ideal fall conditions have allowed Lambton County producers to bring a smooth and successful harvest near the finish line. Lambton Federation of Agriculture President Mike Belan said the soybean harvest and winter wheat planting finished really well thanks to a long stretch of nice weather. He said area farmers, including himself, have made good progress harvesting corn since with average to above average yields being recorded. "We just finished up last week and I think probably, if you went around the county, we'd be probably 85 to 90 per cent wrapped up on corn harvest," said Belan. "The first part of November has been exceptionally well weather wise." Belan said everyone he talks to has been eager to collect their crops. "November's notorious for having a large snowfall or getting wet and staying wet for the rest of the month," he said. "So, you take advantage of the nice weather when you can." With flurries starting to show in local forecasts, Belan said extra effort is being

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service