The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 3About this issue
Giving all gear 'round
There's an old saying that it's an ill wind that blows no
good to someone and the BSE crisis has proved that.
Though the program has been ongoing for some time now,
the "Donate a Cow" program in Perth County makes a
wonderful, heart-warming story for our Christmas edition.
While times are tough for beef, sheep and dairy farmers
because of the border closure following a single case of
BSE 19 months ago, few have to depend on food banks to
put food on the table. But there are people among the
general population who do, and thanks to an enterprising
group of Perth County residents, many are now getting
meat in their diets. Tired of seeing cull cattle bring nothing
on the market, they organized a program to process the
cattle and give hamburger to food banks and soup kitchens
for the truly desperate. Nearly 20 tons of beef have been
donated so far in this heart-warming program that has also
inspired similar programs elsewhere.
Farmers in Grey and Bruce have taken steps to try to
gain more money for their cattle by marketing directly to
customers through the Beef Connections. A joint effort by
the Bruce Presbytery of the United Church of Canada and
the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, it seeks to connect
farmers directly to consumers, shortening the supply chain.
We have more information in this issue.
Food is a huge part of the Christmas season and our
modern celebrations often owe their origins to the
traditions of rural Europe in past centuries. Even our
modern tradition of turkey for Christmas developed in
Europe, where turkeys had been taken by the Spanish from
their Mexican colony. We trace some of these traditions.
In our news section, Ralph Ferguson, who initiated the
"Compare the Share", spoke at the annual meeting of the
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture. Making news,
however, was the Federation's call for the federal
government to initiate a NAFTA challenge to the U.S.
border closure over BSE. Incoming Bruce Federation
President Bob Emerson spoke in support of the resolution
after hearing B.C. speaker Wendy Holm at the Huron
Federation's annual meeting earlier.
At the annual meeting of the Ecological Farmers of
Ontario, members called for provisions to allow small
alternative chicken producers to continue in business.
In her decorating column, Patti Robertson has
suggestions on how to ease the stress of decorating for
Christmas while still having a beautiful home for the
holidays. Bonnie Gropp has recipes for what to do with all
the left -over turkey after Christmas.0
Update
Farm energy on the rise
New renewable energy projects will be announced
regularly in the next while, predicted Carol Mitchell, MPP
for Huron -Bruce, who was commissioned to report to
Energy Minister Dwight Duncan and Agriculture and Food
Minister Steve Peters on renewable energy.
Addressing at the annual meeting of the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture, Mitchell spoke of attending the
announcement October 25, by Peters and Duncan of $1.6
million in provincial support for the Lynn Cattle Company
near Lucan for installation of an anaerobic digester to
create biogas which will drive a generator to create
electricity for the farm's operations and for sale to the
Municipality of North Middlesex which will purchase
2,500 megawatts of electricity annually to power all
municipal needs, making it the first green -powered
municipality in Canada.
"This is, in my mind, where the future lies," Mitchell
said of farm -based renewable energy. "It's another
commodity we can sell off the farm."O
m°Rural Voice
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