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The Rural Voice, 1998-11, Page 8BOYD FARM SUPPLY • Fiberglass Gates • Gates & Panels • Bale Feeders • Bale Wagons • Cattle Oilers & Rubs • New & Used Farm Machinery • Lucknow Snowblowers R.R. 6, Owen Sound 519-376-5880 READY TO LAY PULLETS BABY CHICKS WHITE & BROWN EGG LAYERS FISHER POULTRY FARM INC. AYTON ONT NOG 1O0 519-665-7711 LESLIE HAWKEN &SON LIVESTOCK & FARM EOUIPMENT • Self standing yard dividers • Self locking teed mangers Custom Manufacturing Round Bale Feeder R.R. #3 Markdale 519-986-2507 JOHN H. McNABB CONST. LTD. Jacking and replacement of barn walls, concrete foundations, retaining walls, pads Commercial and Residential 25 years experience k concrete work John McNabb Jim Waechter Ph: (519) 371-4521 Ph: (519) 366-2756 Fax: (519) 371-6815 Fax: (519) 366-2600 4 THE RURAL VOICE Keith Roulston So who can you trust? In a time when the consumer is supposedly king, how come con- sumers seem more and more to be left to fend for themselves against the growing power of multinational companies? There was a time and the media could be counted on to rein in the excesses of big business. But government seems to see itself as an enabler of business instead of a regulator and the media, desperate for advertising, too often is afraid to rock the boat. Thc federal and provincial governments used to see their role as encouraging productivity in agriculture. Now they see partnerships with the private sector as a way to get money they're afraid to get through taxes. The federal government, Ottawa journalist Barry Wilson recently pointed out, claims that under the Matching Investment Fund dollars for research have actually gone up. But researchers inside the system told Wilson the kind of research they can do depends on the money they can convince corporations to invest, and they want a return of new profitable products. If a product is good for farmers, but a big company can't make money from it, the research won't get done. Rob Rennie, a former Agriculture Canada researcher now in the private sector said "It's disappointing to see the cutbacks that go on now in public sector research because the economic wealth and the prosperity of this country now is based on that era of very strong support for research." Governments are looking, in effect, for a free lunch but it isn't there. There's a price to pay for everything. Recently scientists with a Toronto university claimed the company supporting their research the government tried to block the release of concerns they had over the product's safety — and the company was backed up by the university. Canada's food safety inspection system has built a solid reputation which farmers and food companies arc happy to use to defend the introduction of new products like genetically -altered foods. Yet in its zeal to cut costs, the federal government made food safety a user pay system with the user being, not the consumer, but the company producing the food. Recently a group of five scientists with the agency said their superiors tried to muzzle their concerns over the health safety implications of approving rBST, the genetically -altered synthetic hormone designed for dairy cows. But surely the media is a watch- dog to keep these agencies on their toes. Perhaps yes. The national media covered the complaints of both the university scientists and the food safety agency scientist. But in an age of declining advertising budgets it's becoming harder to make ends meet in publishing and broadcasting. Some advertisers also expect to buy more than just advertising space with their advertising dollars. I know. I've felt the pressure. Recently an organic magazine carried a story about health dangers from a popular farm herbicide. Thc article quoted various scientific studies from various agencies to argue this chemical, declared safe by most people, was a health and environmental danger. Was this the bias of an organic magazine? Maybe, (that's why I'm not using any names) but the article listed a bibliography of 22 documents to support its case. I do know it's the kind of article you'll never find in a main -stream agricultural publication. Too much of the advertising for those magazines is dependent on multi -national farm chemical companies. So who's on your side if government and the media aren't? If you're feeling all by yourself, you have a right to.0 Keith Roulston is editor and publisher of The Rural Voice. Ile lives near Blyth, ON.