Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-01-20, Page 5Wednesday, January 20, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 5 Farmers need to bridge gap between themselves and consumers Don Crosby For Postmedia Farmers must be more proactive in overcoming the disconnect between them- selves and consumers, said agronomist Peter Johnson, a former crop specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs. "The real message farmers need to get out there is the great work they are doing... that message used to be there ... it wasn't that long ago that 80% of people in the cities came from the farm... now they are one, two or three generations removed from the farm." Johnson, who was a speaker at Grey Bruce Farmers' week, said farm- ers are not comfortable sharing information with the public because they've not done it before and they are not trained to do so. But it's something that has to be done, otherwise their critics will continue getting their message out unchallenged. Johnson acknowledged that there is still work to be done by the farming commu- nity to protect waterways from phosphate runoff and the responsible use of nitro- gen, but agriculture has made significant strides in safe food production and protection of the environment of which the public is unaware. He's worried that farmers are losing the public rela- tions battle with their critics looking to target "big bad agribusiness," but who have never worked on a farm. "We have to stand up and say wait a minute, it's not as bad as they say. Here's why we do it and here's how we do it. If we don't do certain things we will lose every public relations battle that comes our way," Johson said. He argued in favour of some genetic modification and use of pesticides to provide safe food and maintain high yields. The use of pesticides and genet- ically modified foods helps ensure that. The agriculture industry continues to refine its pest management options, mov- ing away from broad spec- trum pesticides like DDT to ones that are specific to one or two insects. The focus now in research is on bio pesticides — naturally occurring or genetically modified microorganism. Allan Thompson to chair `Project Rural' for Trudeau's federal Liberals Former Huron -Bruce fed- eral Liberal candidate Allan Thompson has been asked by the federal Liberal party to set up and chair a task force to be called "Project Rural" to begin a major program of research and outreach in rural ridings. The full details of the task force's composition and man- date are still being finalized, but work will begin almost immediately. The task force will be estab- lished under the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) and will begin its work in rural ridings across the province. "We must be regarded as a party and government that has something to say to rural vot- ers. And having something to say starts with listening," said Thompson. "I think the federal Liberal party can work harder to connect with people who live in rural communities." At the outset, the goal of "Project Rural" is to design a program of outreach in fed- eral ridings across Ontario that are predominantly rural. A first step will be to consult with former Liberal candi- dates, their campaign teams and electoral district associa- tions from ridings with a sig- nificant rural presence. But equally important, the task force will engage directly with communities in ridings that are predominantly rural or have a significant rural presence. Project Rural will also conduct research into key Submitted Former Huron -Bruce federal Liberal candidate and Glammis- native Allan Thompson is seen with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Thompson has been tasked with setting up `Project Rural' under the Liberal Party of Canada, to address issues in rural ridings across Ontario. rural issues and will tap into existing work on rural issues and concems. Project Rural recognizes the need for the federal Liberal party to engage directly on key issues that resonate with rural voters, to establish best prac- tices for campaigning in a rural context and to begin the process now of devising a rural campaign strategy and platform planks for 2019. As the Liberal candidate in Huron -Bruce in last year's election, Thompson ran on a theme of providing a strong rural voice. He and his sup- porters moved the Liberal party from a distant third in 2011 to a very competitive second -place finish in the October 19th election. And Thompson's experience mir- rored that of many other can- didates in ridings with a sig- nificant rural component. Alongside MP Kim Rudd (Northumberland -Peterbor- ough South), Thompson was asked to lead a panel on "the rural campaign" at the LPC(0) Executive Board meeting held in Ottawa in early December. To prepare for that session, he was in touch with candidates in a number of predominantly rural ridings and conducted an informal survey about les- sons learned from the 2015 campaign. A central finding of that survey was that there is a need to start now re -connect- ing with rural candidates and their communities and to build a major program of out- reach in rural ridings. Johnson also targeted the opponents of genetically modified foods, explaining that grains such as wheat have changed over the cen- turies through genetic modi- fications caused by bacteria and other natural agents and there is no need to fear bioengineering. "We have made unbeliev- able advances, but we haven't told the public and that's where we've slipped the clutch," said Johnson, who recommends farmers use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to get their message out to a broad range of people. "When I said a tweet out 6,000 people see that tweet and then it gets retweeted. Social media works well absolutely," said Johnson. But he warns of the Postmedia Peter Johnson – former crop specialist with Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs. amount of erroneous infor- mation also available on social media that may be indistinguishable for factual and scientific information. "People who make wild claims have a big social media presence because they know how it works. Farmers are doing a great job but we have a small social media presence; that's part of our problem. That needs to change," Johnson said. POLICE BRIEFS January is Crime Jeep Liberty stolen from repair shop in Blyth Huron County OPP offic- ers are investigating the recent theft of a 2003 Jeep Liberty stolen from a repair shop located on Queen Street in Blyth. The theft was reported to police on Jan. 8, 2015 how- ever police believe the theft took place some- time between Dec. 30, 2015 and Jan. 1, 2016. The Jeep Liberty was repaired and was parked in the back laneway awaiting pickup from the owner. The stolen Jeep Liberty is a described as a 2003 model, red, with a spare tire on the back of the vehicle. The Jeep has an 8 inch black stripe that was painted along the entire bottom rocker guard of the vehi- cle. The vehicle is valued at approximately $4,000. Any person with informa- tion regarding this incident should immediately contact Huron OPP at 1-888-310- 1122 or (519) 524-8314. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1 -800 -222 -TIPS (8477), where you may be eli- gible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000. Stoppers month in Grey Bruce Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce Inc. is proud to recognize January as "International Crime Stoppers Month". Each year Crime Stop- pers programs from across the globe take the oppor- tunity to extol their suc- cesses of the past and look ahead to the upcoming year. Incorporated in 1987, Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce was based on a concept con- ceived eleven years earlier in Albuquerque New Mexico by Canadian -born Detec- tive Greg MacAleese, who in 1976 was assigned to inves- tigate a robbery involving the shooting death of a young employee of a gas station. Frustrated by the lack of solid investigative leads, MacAleese recognized that there were two primary rea- sons the public didn't report crime - fear and apathy. MacAleese created an anon- ymous tips line, offered a cash reward for information, and staged a re-enactment resulting in the success- ful arrest of those respon- sible for the murder. The Crime Stoppers concept was born! Since 1976 Crime Stoppers programs have grown in numbers around the world totaling more than 1,200 in over 22 countries. The Year 2016 will mark the 29th year of operations for Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce Inc., who once again enjoyed a successful year in assist- ing law enforcement agen- cies in the solving of crime and the seizure of illegal drugs and stolen property. In 2015 Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce realized an increase of more than 100 tips over the same time period in 2014. "Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce continues to be an effective support service for our local Police Services," said OPP Constable Dean Rutherford - Program Coor- dinator in a media release. "Police Services are pres- ently adopting new strate- gies in making our commu- nities safer and one of those strategies is "Community Mobilization". It is my opin- ion that Crime Stoppers is a leader in this philosophy that communities can make communities safe!" – said Rutherford. Cst. Rutherford also stated that Crime Stop- pers has raised their pro- file on social media through Facebook and Twitter. In 2015 tips to Crime Stop- pers of Grey Bruce resulted in the seizure of over $849,362 in drugs and stolen goods, 28 arrests, and 23 cases cleared. Since inception in 1987 the local program has amassed totals of over $51.7 Million in seized drugs and prop- erty resulting in over 1,500 arrests while solving 2,558 cases. During that time span $242,105 in cash rewards have been approved for payment to "Tipsters".