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February 11
Markdale - Grey Agricultural Services
Speakers' Bureau skills training session: Register by emailing info[at]greyagservices.ca
February 20
Vineland Station - Rittenhouse Hall
Speakers' Bureau skills training session: Register by emailing info[at]farmfoodcare.org
February 24
Ilderton - Coldstream Community Centre
Speakers' Bureau skills training session: Register by emailing info[at]farmfoodcare.org
March 3
Napanee - Strathcona Paper Centre
Speakers' Bureau skills training session: Register by emailing info[at]farmfoodcare.org
March 3 Guelph - Hanlon Convention Centre Water Adaptation Management and Quality Initiative Symposium
March 9
Kincardine - Lake Huron Learning Centre
Speakers' Bureau skills training session: Register by emailing joanne.hughes@ofa.on.ca
April 2
Guelph
Media training for FFC members
Cost $400 per person
Guelph Agricentre
Register by emailing info[at]farmfoodcare.org
April 14-15
Milton
Farm & Food Care Annual General Meeting: Teatro Conference & Event Centre
October 29, 2015
Kitchener
Farm & Food Care Foundation's annual Harvest Gala: Bingeman's Ballroom
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Ag Ambassador Tip
of the Month
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Show you care. Facts and research are important, but we also have to show that we can look past the numbers and do something because we believe it is the right thing to do.
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Farm & Food Care submission re:
Environmental Bill of Rights
Pollinator health is a complex issue, and Farm & Food Care has prepared a proposal for enhancing pollinator health and reducing neonicotinoid pesticides in Ontario. See the proposal here. |
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Farm & Food Care's environmental staff is seeking southern Ontario grain farmers with corn in their crop rotation to participate in a survey focusing on extreme weather. Designed by researchers at the University of Guelph, the survey will investigate the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on corn production, as well as the methods farmers employ to control that impact. Participants will receive $20 compensation for their participation, and the survey will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. Those interested in participating can do so by visiting the survey web page.
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Farm & Food Care's Annual Meeting ~ April 14 & 15
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Farm & Food Care Ontario's Annual General Meeting is coming in April, and an agenda packed with informative and entertaining speakers has been set.
Agenda highlights . . .
Tuesday evening, April 14
Communications Workshop: Real Dirt Speakers' Bureau
Facilitator Bernard Tobin will take attendees through an
abbreviated presentation of the Real Dirt on Farming Speakers' Bureau training series that is underway in several provinces across Canada - a program designed to help farmers reach non-farming audiences and tell their own story. Detail of the program, and why it's important for farmers and agribusiness people to speak up for who they are and what they do will be discussed.
Wednesday, April 15
Connecting with Canadians Through Transparency and Authenticity
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Sherry MacLauchlan
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Sherry MacLauchlan, Director of Sustainability and Government Relations for McDonald's Canada, will be speaking about her company's "Our Food, Your Questions" campaign, which has been tackling misconceptions about food head on since 2012. She will discuss how McDonald's Canada used the power of transparency to connect with and educate consumers about its food, while changing brand
perceptions one question at a time.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Social Media
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Carrie Mess (left), Sarah Schultz (centre) and Andrew Campbell (right)
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Speakers for this session include Wisconsin dairy farmer Carrie Mess (@dairycarrie), Alberta grain farmer Sarah Schultz (@nurselovesfarmr) and Ontario dairy farmer Andrew Campbell (@freshairfarmer). Collectively, these three farmers/social media experts have over 50,000 followers and have been active in using Twitter, Facebook and blog postings to tell their stories about food and farming. In this afternoon session, they'll talk about some of the highs and lows of their engagements with the public (including the newest #farm365 initiative) and share tips on what they think works well.
Plus:
* Highlights of Farm & Food Care's 2014 activities
* Presentation of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award
* Farm & Food Care Foundation Report & Strategy Update
* Elections by the membership for the 2015-2016 Directors
* And much more
Where:
Teatro Conference and Event Centre, 121 Chisholm Drive
Milton, ON L9T 4A6
Cost:
$20 Communications Workshop
$80 (AGM early bird registration)
$100 (AGM registration fee after April 1)
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Nominate your Ag-Champion
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Farm & Food Care wants to recognize an Ontario "Champion" who works to get the message out about agriculture. The Champion Award is presented to individuals, organizations or businesses who have helped to inform the public or the agri-food industry about issues in agriculture.
Award winner(s) will be honoured at the upcoming FFC Annual Meeting, held on April 15 at the Teatro Conference and Event Centre in Milton.
If you have a champion in mind, please fill out the nomination form available at Farm & Food Care's website. Nominations must be submitted by March 20. |
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Upcoming Dates:
The Real Dirt on Farming Speakers' Bureau
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For farmers and agribusiness people alike, the Speakers' Bureau series of workshops is designed to encourage those involved in agriculture to tell THEIR stories - what they do and why they do it - to non-farming audiences. 
Five more sessions have been planned for February and March. They are as follows:
- February 11, Markdale - Grey County Agricultural Services Centre (a $20 charge applies for this session)
- February 20, Niagara - Rittenhouse Hall, Vineland Research Station
- February 24, Ilderton - Coldstream Community Centre
- March 3, Napanee - Strathcona Paper Centre
- March 9, Kincardine - Lake Huron Learning Centre (a $10 charge applies for this session)
Space in each session is limited to the first 20 participants. Those interested in attending can email info@farmfoodcare.org, or call the office at (519) 837-1326.
Help non-farmers get The Real Dirt on Farming.
Speak Up and tell your farming story. It's important!
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Water Adaptation Management and Quality Initiative Symposium
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Farm & Food Care is pleased to present a symposium to highlight projects completed under the Water Adaptation Management and Quality Initiative (WAMQI). The symposium will be held on March 3, 2015 at the Hanlon Convention Centre in Guelph.
To register or find more information, visit https://wamqiwrapup.eventbrite.ca, or contact Micah Shearer-Kudel, Farm & Food Care Ontario's Environmental Coordinator: micah@farmfoodcare.org or (519) 837-1326 x291. |
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The Dribble Bar: Managing Manure Application
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New manure application technology is coming to Canada, and Farm & Food Care has begun showcasing it in demonstrations around the province.
 Known as the "dribble bar," this new piece of equipment combines a traditional liquid manure tanker with hoses and other working parts in order to uniformly apply manure in larger volumes, more quickly and for more days of the year.
Watch Farm & Food Care Ontario's environment page for upcoming demonstrations, or see this new piece of technology in action on YouTube. |
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Farm & Food Care Foundation news
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Upcoming webinar highlights insights from moms, millenials and foodies
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Date: March 6, 2015 from 10 to 11 a.m. EST.
Science may say it's so, but often today's consumers say, "Not so fast." How do we make complex and controversial technical information relevant and meaningful to them as they make decisions about food issues?
The webinar will delve into consumers' complex decision-making processes to:
* Learn how to best introduce technical information in agriculture and food so it's embraced;
* Understand what messages, messengers and communication channels work best to reach moms, millennials, foodies and the early adopters who are driving the conversation.
Charlie Arnot, CEO of the US Center for Food Integrity (CFI) will highlight CFI's extensive research findings on public trust on food and farming in the USA on this webinar.
To register for this webinar, visit http://crackingthecodewebinar.eventbrite.ca.
Questions about the webinar? Contact the Farm & Food Care Foundation at (519) 837-1326 or info@farmcarefoundation.ca
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The Farm & Food Care Foundation, our national charity, has signed a letter of intent with the USA-based Center for Food Integrity (CFI) to investigate bringing the CFI business model and programs to Canada. Both groups have similar mandates to build public trust in food and farming, and have worked well informally together for several years already.
The new agreement shows support for concepts such as a cross-border replication of CFI's consumer and public trust research, and the creation of a Canadian Centre for Food Integrity to work in concert with existing Farm & Food Care Foundation programming.
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The Real Dirt on Farming Speakers' Bureau goes national
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The Farm & Food Care Foundation recently hosted six out-of-province agricultural communications facilitators to give them the real dirt on the Speakers' Bureau training series. The facilitators will take the knowledge they gained from the program in Ontario to their home provinces, where they will run their own province-specific sessions.
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The facilitators, from left to right: Annemarie Pedersen, Alberta; Jessica Brady, Manitoba; Cherilyn Nagel, Saskatchewan; Tamara Leigh, British Columbia; Kristen Hall, Alberta; Nancy Beth Guptill, Prince Edward Island; Bernard Tobin, Ontario.
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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. 100 Stone Road West, Suite 202 Guelph, ON N1G 5L3 519-837-1326 www.farmfoodcare.org Twitter: @farmfoodcare Email: info@farmfoodcare.org |
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