The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 31
R.V.
.
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Gisele Ireland, Lisa Boonstoppel-
Pot, Bonnie Gropp, Ralph Pearce
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Janice Becker,
Andrew Grindlay, Sarah Caldwell
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
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Behind the Scenes
Exploring diversity on Ontario farms
Sheep, long ago an important part
of many mixed farming operation,
almost disappeared from the southern
Ontario farming scene after World
War II. Later, sheep returned, along
with goats, as the favourite animals
kept by many "back to the land" part-
time farmers. They weren't exactly
taken seriously by full-time farmers.
But now sheep are back and a
growing number of farmers are turn-
ing to them as a full-time occupation.
Among them are Murray and Doris
Clark of Kincardine who quit dairy
farming and moved into sheep in a
large enough way that it has provided
the family income. We talked to the
Clarks in an article this month.
If sheep have had a hard time
being taken seriously by mainstream
farmers, goats have had even more of
a problem. But with the changing
ethnic makeup of Ontario there is a
growing market for goat meat.
Ontario's milking goats haven't
exactly filled the bill but Boer goats
could change that. The larger, meatier
goats are beginning to attract interest
in Ontario, even among those who
couldn't in any way be termed "back -
to -the -Landers". Bob Reid looks at
this new breed.
All of this points to the increasing
diversity of what is grown and raised
on Ontario farms and that diversity
will be on display when Flavours of
Perth is held at the Stratford -Perth
Museum, July 29. The event, which
will include chances to taste food
made with everything from local
pork, eggs, chickens and beans to
goat milk cheese, is designed to both
promote local food products and
educate those people attending about
where their food comes from.
Another event that has been
feeding thousands of people local
food products over the years has been
the Zurich Bean Festival. It's also an
event that brings the entire comm-
unity together.
And speaking of food, Bonnie
Gropp has collected delicious recipes
for summer deserts in her recipe
column this month. Meanwhile Patti
Robertson helps you decorate the
apartment of that child going off to
college.°
Update
Rescuing an endangered plant
Back in 1993 and again in 1995, we carried stories on Gordon Scheifele, then a
researcher at Ridgetown College, and his exploration of alternative crops. One of
those crops was hemp, which Scheifele has since gone on to be much more
involved with, and another was amaranth. Now a University of Guelph
researcher is involved in trying to keep one rare form of amaranth alive.
Amaranth, an ancient grain grown by the Mayans and Aztecs in central
America before the arrival of the Spaniards, has been highly prized in health
food circles for its nutritional and functional properties.
But one form of the species, seabeach amaranth, has come close to extinction
because its habitat has been destroyed by cottage walls and beach erosion and by
natural disasters like east coast hurricanes. Natural population of the plant is
thought to have dwindled to about 3,000 plants.
But Massimo Marcone, an adjunct professor in the Department of Food
Science at University of Guelph, has taken up the plant's cause. He managed to
obtain a few seeds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (distribution of the
seeds is highly controlled, even for scientific purposes) and is growing them to
create a sustainable population for his research.
In its wild form, seabeach amaranth contains high levels of squalene, an oil
lubricant used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Squalene is
currently derived from sharks and whales. Marcone is also trying to find the
exact levels of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the plant. Each of these
components has the potential for additional uses, increasing the seeds' value
beyond a cereal grain alternative and perhaps making it a functional food.0