Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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: 74

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

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....
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
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

Pulse & Soybean Crop Update

Soybeans range from R3 (beginning pod) to R4 (full pod). Soybean plant height and biomass have increased dramatically over the last two weeks as the plants continued flowering and pod development. Varying degrees of stem, leaf, flower and pod deformations have been noted and have been attributed to a variety of causes including: Rapid Growth Syndrome – Shows up as bubbling and crinkling and curling of new leaves since the leaf interior is growing quicker than the leaf veins and edges can keep up with. See Figure 1 below. Suspected Herbicide Drift – Concerns regarding suspected Group 4 drift in particular have been reported this year. Caution should be taken with such diagnosis based on visual assessments only as rapid growth syndrome can produce some comparable symptoms. See Figures 2 and 3 below. Suspected Environmentally Induced Male Plant Sterility – Symptoms with this disorder can be very odd and hard to verify. Extreme fluctuations in temperature which includes very hot conditi

Drought Support for Manitoba Livestock Producers

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture have reached agreement on the five-year Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership policy framework. Governments will continue to deliver a complete and effective suite of business risk management (BRM) programs.  Business Risk Management (BRM) programs are in place to help farmers in managing risks from income declines resulting from drought, flooding, low prices, and increased input costs. The programs work together by providing protection for different types of losses, as well as cash flow options. AgriInvest helps cover small margin declines.  AgriInvest Publications and Forms AgriStability assists in cases of large margin declines caused by circumstances such as low prices and rising input costs.  AgriStability Publications and Forms Agristability Benefit Calculator AgriInsurance offers protection for production losses related to specific crops or commodities caused by natural hazards. Pasture Days Insuranc

Smoky conditions and hot weather impacting Manitoba's agricultural producers

In a growing season that's already experienced more than 30 days of air quality warnings, Manitoba's farmers are adjusting to keep themselves and their animals safe amid smoky conditions from wildfires burning across the province. In Pipestone, Man., the orange haze can get so thick it's hard to see more than half a mile, says cattle producer Melissa Atchison. That means during the tail end of calving season, they're taking extra precautions to keep themselves and their animals healthy. "It's not as if you are going to have pre-smoked meat," Atchison said. "It doesn't affect meat quality.… It's more about managing their health and their lungs and their respiratory system." Jonas Watson, a veterinarian at Winnipeg's Grant Park Animal Hospital, said the adverse health effects caused by poor air quality can also hurt producers' bottom line. The summer's intense heat can impact an outdoor animal's breathing at the best of times — but add in irritants like smoke and their health can be

Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station educates local producers

The Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station showcased 44 experiments and other projects it's doing this year to local producers at its annual summer tour day. Most notably, the station is adding 31 new varieties of all its crops to avoid stagnancy to sustain and improve crop yields, testing the greenhouse gas emissions of different enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and assessing whether these fertilizers could improve the efficiency of fertilizer use. “Even before I start seeding the experiments, I share what sort of experiments I’m going to do with farmers and ask them if there’s anything else they would like us to do,” said Tarlok Singh Sahota, the station’s director, who personally meets with farmers in their fields and barns for these discussions. “So, this is a very shared program with the farmers and (the) farm will be closely linked with the farmers. I think this is probably the only substation in our country, not only in the province, that works so closely with the f

FedNor announces funds for agriculture, video series

The Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) is getting federal funding support to strengthen Northern Ontario’s agri-food sector. Announced on July 25, the $702,713 in funds will improve local value chains, advance technology adoption, and promote sustainable practices, according to FedNor, which is providing the funds. NOFIA will also assess key production and procurement challenges, and explore infrastructure investments to support aggregation, storage, and distribution.  The idea is to expand market opportunities and increase demand for products produced in Northern Ontario. “This investment is a game-changer for agriculture in Northern Ontario. It allows us to strengthen our regional food systems, support producers of all sizes, and explore innovative technologies that will shape the future of farming in the North,” said Emily Seed, NOFIA’s executive director, in a news release. “By working together with communities and partners, we’re helping to build a more sustaina

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service