Canada Ag Day Offers Consumers Opportunity to Learn About Food Production

Farmscape for February 6, 2020

The Executive Director of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan says Canada's Agriculture Day observances offer consumers an excellent opportunity to learn more about the food they eat and how it's produced.
Canada's Agriculture Day observance, February 11th, will feature agricultural activities and discussions in communities and on social media across Canada including events planned for the University of Saskatchewan hosted by the Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan and the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence.
Clinton Monchuk, the Executive Director of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan, says this event is one of those opportunities to build public trust in food production.

Clip-Clinton Monchuk-Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan:
When we do our surveying with the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, we find that roughly 60 percent of Canadians do want to know more about farming practices or how their food is actually produced.
When we give the opportunity for those consumers, the urbanites living in Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal, the opportunity to engage with farmers or those involved in the agriculture industry it widens their experience and their knowledge around food and farming.
We know a lot of consumer in this country do have questions about their food.
It seems like year after year the big topics on the grain farming side is usually around pesticides or genetically modified crops.
In terms of animal agriculture it usually focusses around confined animal agriculture or animal welfare as well as antibiotics and hormones.
These are the big issues or concerns that consumers usually are seeking answers to.
I think these are some of the issues that maybe we haven't been as open in the farming community to talk to consumers about and I think these are some of those subjects that we need to be a little more forthcoming around.

Monchuk notes the Canada Ag Day observance was one of the top trending topics on social media last year and we're looking for more of the same this year.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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