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New on our websites | |
If you missed the inspiring lecture given by Dr. Temple Grandin in June, you have the chance to watch it online. The video has been posted to the Farm & Food Care Foundation's website. The lecture was recorded and broadcast with support and technical expertise from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. |
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Coming Events | |
North American Forum on Sustainable Animal Agriculture - September 17-18, 2012 (Delta Meadowvale Hotel, Mississauga)
Ontario Harvest Gala and 2013 Faces of Farming calendar launch
- November 1, 2012
(Guelph Delta Hotel)
Media training sesions November 6 and November 21
2012, (Ontario AgriCentre) |
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Find us online | |
On Twitter: @farmfoodcare
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Welcome to the August edition of the e-newsletter of Farm & Food Care Ontario.
As we write this, we're packing for the Canadian National Exhibition that opens next week in Toronto and preparing for a host of culinary student and media tours this fall.
Plans are also coming together for the upcoming North American Forum on Sustainable Animal Agriculture that we're partnering on. Look for details below. |
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North American Forum on Sustainable Animal Agriculture
The Farm & Food Care Foundation is proudly partnering with the Center for Food Integrity to host the North American Forum on Sustainable Animal Agriculture.
The forum will convene a group of influential food system leaders from across the continent, all actively involved in providing safe, affordable and sustainable food to consumers.
Registration is $150 (US dollars) per attendee. Register online by visiting: www.regonline.com/naanimalagforum.
Several objectives will guide the agenda, including:
- Understand the many tools being used to drive change throughout the food system
- Addressing the abundant and complicated factors related to sustainable animal agriculture
- Defining "sustainable animal agriculture" in an effort to build consumer trust and confidence
- Introduction of the Coalition for Sustainable Animal Agriculture (CSAA).
The forum is a follow up of the successful Feeding a Hungry World Summit for Animal Agriculture held in Ottawa in October, 2011. The Center for Food Integrity has hosted several forums and summits in the past few years, for primarily an American audience. This forum will be unique, bringing food system leaders from both sides of the border together.
Forum Details
The forum will be held on September 17 and 18, 2012 commencing at 1:00 p.m. on the 17th and concluding at 1:30 p.m. on the 18th.
The venue will be the Delta Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, minutes from the Toronto airport, www.deltameadowvale.com. To book accommodations call 1-888-890-3222 and quote group code: Food Strategy Summit.
For more information on this event, contact the Farm & Food Care Ontario office at (519) 837-1326 or visit the Farm & Food Care Foundation's website.
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2012 Culinary college student
farm tour program
This year's culinary student farm tour program began in June with tours organized for Fanshawe College of London and St. Clair College of Windsor. The program gives participants a hands on look at farming today and an appreciation of food and farming in Ontario by focusing on different types of livestock and crop farms. The tours are conducted annually with a lottery to select winning colleges. This year's tours are supported by Foodland Ontario.
Fanshawe students left London and visited with the McKillop family of Dutton who opened their barn door to show the students and their instructors their beef and egg farm. A visit to Empire Valley Farms with Dave & Joy Westelaken provided a look at the various vegetable crops grown in the field and greenhouse with a variety to suit any budding chef's palate. A 'Taste of Elgin" lunch was prepared by Chef John Mairleitner, of Tall Tales Café, who incorporated lunch features from the farm tour locations.
St. Clair College's tour departed from Windsor stopping first in Kingsville at Agriville Farms, part of the Mucci group. The group toured the 55 acre greenhouse and sampled a variety of different tomatoes for flavour and colour. The second stop was Wagner Orchards and included an orchard tour followed by gourmet pizza lunch, using local products.
The final stop of the day was Ewe Dell Family Farms owned by the Fuerth family. Jason Fuerth led the tour of the barns answering questions about raising sheep. This farm has a one-of a-kind abattoir which enables the farm to produce specialty lamb cuts and products. The students were treated to a meat cutting demonstration and barbecue lamb kabob tasting.
New St. Clair instructor, Chef James Askin said "the tour exceeded my expectations. I hope we will be able to participate again. The students need to be aware of our food and farms in the region".
Four more tours are scheduled for late summer and early fall.
 | | Fanshawe students at Empire Valley vegetable farm |
 | | A meat cutting demonstration for students at St. Clair college |
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Should this bird be loaded? Decision tree survey
From the Poultry Industry Council: In order to gain feedback from industry on the "Should This Bird Be Loaded?" Decision Tree, OMAFRA has put together a short survey about it. Anyone can take the survey because it applies to those who are using it as well as those who are not. Complete the survey before Aug. 7th for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Tim Hortons. Simply click on the link and complete the survey. Good luck and thanks for helping out. |
Ag-mazing Race
On July 25 30 4-Hers competed in the Agmazing Race as part of 4-H Ontario's Career Sense conference. Farm & Food Care helped organize eight stops around the University of Guelph which had students learning about careers associated with weeds identification, financial analysis and food science through a variety of interactive challenges.
Thanks to the University of Guelph's Food, Crop and Soil Sciences department staff Esther Onguta, Shelby Parkinson, Sabrina Westra, Luke Curtis as well as young ambassador team members Julia Smith and Dennis Jansen who volunteered to lead stations at the Race.
 | | 4-H participants in the Ag-mazing race event. |
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Save the Date: November media training sessions
Farm & Food Care Ontario will be hosting two day-long media training sessions this fall at the Ontario AgriCentre in Guelph.
The sessions will be interactive and give the participants the understanding of the media, the tools needed to prepare to face the media and an interview process that will give each person real life interview experience. The program would be useful for board members and staff at commodity associations who speak regularly about issues related to their sectors or any primary producer who is asked to give farm tours or speak on behalf of agriculture at municipal council meetings or other events.
Each session will include a focus on:
- Talking to Canadians about food and farming
- The relationship between you and the media
- Media tips and techniques
- Writing letters to the editor and opinion pieces
- Key messages - what are you saying, who are you saying it to and why?
- Interview/public speaking techniques
- Dealing with difficult questions
- Two to three on-camera practice sessions with review and feedback.
The sessions are planned for either Tuesday, November 6 or Wednesday, November 21. The cost is $400 per attendee and space is limited to the first 10 participants who register. Book a spot by emailing info@farmfoodcare.org |
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If you've misplaced a copy of the newsletter or want to check an item from a past issue, they're all archived on our website under the Media Centre section.
We encourage you to forward this newsletter to other members of your company or organization who might be interested. They can also subscribe directly by emailing info@farmfoodcare.org |
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100 Stone Road West, Suite 106
Guelph, ON
N1G 5L3
519-837-1326
www.farmfoodcare.org
Twitter: @farmfoodcare
Email: info@farmfoodcare.org |
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