The Rural Voice, 1993-02, Page 55R.V.
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
'and research, northwestern Ontario
Neil McCutcheon, farmer, Grey Cty.
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Adrian Vos, Gisele Ireland, Cathy
Laird, Wayne Kelly, June Flath, Ian
Wylie-Toal, Susan Glover, Bob Reid,
Mervyn Erb, DareneYavorsky, Peter
Baltensperger, Sandra Orr, Yvonne
Reynolds, Bonnie Gropp, Rhea
Hamilton -Seeger, Kendra Krauter
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising sales:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Tracey Rising
advertising & editorial production:
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Anne Harrison
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Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
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Behind the Scenes
Telling people where food comes from
Chocolate milk comes from brown
cows. Eggs come in cartons from the
supermarket. Meat comes in
cellophane packages. We've all heard
the horrible stories about the
ignorance of today's young people
about where their food comes from.
With an increasingly urban
population, there's a huge education
job to be undertaken if urbanites of
the next generation are to know
anything about the realities of their
food. It's a problem that has
concerned more and more rural
people. It has brought innovations
like agriculture in the classroom and
other follow up programs.
What is the role of agriculture in
education? This month we'll take a
look at the partnership of education
and agriculture from various
perspectives.
In Western Ontario, with its Targe
farm population, rural children make
up a large part of the school
population. How much relevant
material about farm and rural topics
is included in the curriculum these
students are studying? We talked to
school officials in the area to find out.
One place where agriculture and
education have definitely come
together is in the co-operative
education course at the Walkerton
District Secondary School. Students
have the opportunity to go on work
placements to local farms and agri-
businesses and earn credits toward
their diploma while gaining practical
experience in agriculture.
A Huron group, the Huron
Agricultural Awareness Committee
has undertaken a project to give
hundreds of students a look at where
their food comes from. In April
they'll help nearly 1400 grade 4 and
5 students get involved in hands-on
activities in agriculture when they
hold "A Slice of Huron" in Seaforth.
While the "dumb farmer" image
continues to plague people in
agriculture, many of today's farmers
graduated from universities and
specialized colleges like Centralia
College. Centralia is currently
marking its 25th anniversary. Yvonne
Reynolds tells how the college has
changed over the years to meet the
new needs of the industry.
All this and our regular columns.0
Update
Back in our September issue we wrote about the agencies available to help
rural families that were suffering stress and family problems due to economic
and other problems. As the fall wore on and the harvest situation became more
desperate, the level of stress has increased. "We're run off our feet," Brian
Ireland, of Queen's Bush Rural Ministry said in mid-January. "The problems
seem to be affecting more people than ever before." Where one really serious
problem a month used to be dealt with, now it's about one a day, he said. In
addition, there is a lot of depression out there, perhaps because of the overall lack
of sunlight in the past few months. The one good sign is that Queen's Bush isn't
dealing with as many marital problems as it was a year ago.
Neighbours Being Neighbours in Perth County says OMAF has come through
with more money to help with counselling through Stratford Family Counselling,
and to support more seminars on stress management and communications. Nancy
O'Reilly says the demand for assistance has increased as the harvest problems
mounted. Meanwhile Huron's Rural Connections program is involved with the
H.E.A.R.T. program dealing with the current crop failure -related crisis.
"The one thing that should be stressed over and over again is that the sooner
people get help, the better," Ireland said. Also, he said, the Farm Debt Review
process does work, but people need the help of a professional to make it effective
for them.
Agencies to help: Queen's Bush Rural Ministries, 519-392-6090. Huron
County: Rural Connections: Bonnie Johnson, 519-482-9311. Grey -Bruce, Rural
Connections II, Sue Schlorff co-ordinator, 519-364-7294. Perth County, Stratford
Family Counselling, 519-273-1020.0