The Rural Voice, 1998-03, Page 3T
i
Editor: 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:
Gisele Ireland, Cathy Laird, Wayne
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
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
Anne Harrison
laserset: with the Macintosh LC
printed & mailed by: Signal -Star
Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
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(fax 523-9140). Publication mail
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Behind the Scenes
Variations on a theme
Sometimes a theme is chosen for
an issue and sometimes it just
happens because of the stories that
come along. This month the
accidental theme might be called
"dealing with consumer and public
concerns about food, farming and the
environment".
Our cover story, for instance, is
about the Ontario Maple Syrup Seal
of Quality, the maple syrup industry's
quality assurance program. All
sectors of food production have been
focussing on quality assurance
recently. It's part, as Dr. Doug
Powell explains in our report from
the Centralia Swine Research Update,
of the public's growing concern over
the food it eats and its lack of control
over an area of their lives that is
crucial to their health. Dr. Powell
outlined the huge increase in food -
safety related articles in the media in
the past five years, dating from the
Jack-in-the-Box hamburger -disease
outbreak in the U.S. The issue is
driven by the fact the baby -boom
generation is hitting an age where it
is increasingly concerned about
health and food, Dr. Powell says.
Maple syrup has always been a
food that has carried an image of
purity. Over the years, however,
producers have been made aware of
dangers, like the potential for lead
poisoning from soldered evaporation
trays. The new Seal of Quality
program seeks to educate producers
of all the potential problems, from
proper tapping of trees to cleaning
out collection tanks and lines, and to
assure consumers they're getting the
best in quality.
Besides Dr. Powell, the Centralia
meeting also heard Paula Neice, of
Ecologistics in Waterloo, give tips on
how pork producers could head off
potential problems by being good
neighbours and informing the
community about their good farming
practices. There were also, of course,
lots of tips for farmers looking for
more practical production
information, from use of high oil corn
to batch farrowing.
Bonnie Gropp's recipe column
this month provides ideas to keep
children busy during the March break
from school. Patti Robertson reports
on the latest trends from the
decorating shows. Rhea Hamilton
Seeger talks about how to combat
insect problems with indoor house
plants. There's also news from the
pork producer meetings in Huron and
Perth Counties.0
Update
Hemp interest hot
A somewhat desperate call from OMAFRA Alternative Crop Mike Columbus,
late last month, confirmed what we've known for some time: avid Rural Voice
readers are interested in new kinds of crops. Columbus said he had been deluged
with requests for information following last month's story on the potential for
growing hemp, which will be legal in 1998 for the first time in 60 years.
Columbus had spoken at Grey -Bruce Farmers' Week and the interest was
enormous. "Boy," he said, "people sure must read that magazine."
Meanwhile, updating a January story, the Farm Fresh Poultry Co-operative has
asked Noble Villeneuve, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, to
review the Farm Products Appeal Tribunal decision that struck down an
additional 68,000 kg. of chicken in quota period A19 and a further increase of
100,000 kg in quota period A20. The increases, originally approved by the
Chicken Farmers of Ontario, would have added to the 267,000 kg. of chicken the
co-op received when it bought Ungerman-Thompson Poultry Products Inc.
The 35 farmers who joined to form Farm Fresh eventually hope to process all
their own chicken, some 2 million kg. They are battling the Association of
Ontario Chicken Processors who recommend to the marketing board who should
get quota. The co-op argues this violates the farmers' right to process their own
chicken.0