The Rural Voice, 1997-12, Page 3Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
and research, northwestern Ontario
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
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Kelly, Sarah Borowski,
Mary Lou Weiser -Hamilton, Ralph
Pearce, Susan Glover,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene
Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Kevin Shillinglaw
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Behind the Scenes
Christmas traditions, and farming
Next to Christmas gifts, food is
perhaps the biggest part of the
Christmas celebration. And when
food is involved, of course, so are
farmers.
Canada, with its multi -cultural
makeup, has a wide variety of
Christmas traditions, and foods that
go with them. The traditional
Christmas meal in Canada has
become turkey, a native North
American bird that won acceptance in
Europe as well. But for many newer
Canadians from places like Greece
and Italy, the traditional Christmas
meal is lamb, and Ontario lamb
producers have undertaken to fill the
demand.
This month we look at some of
these Christmas traditions, their roots
and how they fit into Ontario's
farming scene today.
In some cases, tastes change, and
sometimes relatively quickly. While
the tradition of the Christmas tree
goes back centuries, for instance,
people are constantly changing what
they want in a Christmas tree. In the
20 years he has been growing and
selling trees, for instance, Wingham-
area farmer Niel Edgar has noticed a
huge change in what people desire in
their Christmas tree.
Speaking of Christmas traditions
and food, Bonnie Gropp has
assembled a collection of new recipes
for traditional Christmas foods in her
recipe column.
This is a busy time of the year for
meetings. This past month, for
instance, has seen the four local
Federations of Agriculture hold their
annual meetings, electing new
leaders, giving out awards, and
hearing guest speakers.
In Perth County, for instance, Lyle
Vanclief, Canada's minister of
agriculture and agri-food, was the
guest speaker, also touching base
with some old friends from the
county from his Junior Farmers days.
In Grey, outspoken Mississauga
Mayor Hazel McCallion turned her
guns on the Harris government's
downloading plans and the lack of
information that has been released to
let municipalities know how to plan
their budgets.
In Bruce County, TV host Ross
Daily warned farmers they'd better
get their act together on the issue of
manure management and intensive
livestock operations. In Huron
County, Dr. Gordon Surgeoner told
of the benefits of genetic engineering
for farmers.
We've got reports from all of
these meetings.0
Update
Farmers are still giving
In our December 1995 issue, we featured articles on how Canadian farmers,
and particularly Ontario farmers, share their bounty with less fortunate people
around the world. One of the charities featured was the Canadian Foodgrains
Bank. The efforts of Canadian farmers through the bank continue to grow.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank allows farmers to help others by doing what
they do best — growing crops. Along with partners from churches and urban
communities, farmers plant, tend and harvest crops to help the hungry peoples of
the world. Some of the food goes directly to food aid. Some is sold and used to
buy more appropriate foods for the people of the country in need. The donations
from farmers are multiplied on a four -to -one basis by funding from the Canadian
International Development Agency.
In October, the Bank shipped 33,000 metric tonnes of food aid to vulnerable
populations in North Korea and Ethiopia. On October 26 a ship left the Port of
Churchill with 23,650 tonnes of wheat bound for Ethiopia. Later the same week,
another ship was loaded with 10,000 tonnes of wheat for North Korea where
thousands are starving due to famine. Earlier in the year the Bank had shipped
23,854 tonnes of food aid to Africa, the Americas and Asia.
Shipments are up 64 per cent in 1997 to meet the needs of the world's hungry.0