As someone who grew up on a conventional family farm that uses pesticides and someone who works in the crop protection business, it bothers me when people assume that farmers douse their crops with all kinds of chemicals just for the heck of it. This is simply not true. First of all, the term chemicals... Continue Reading →
Gluten is Under Attack: Ceasefire!
The G word is almost as bad as the F word these days. In recent years, gluten has been getting a bad rap due to the mass media, celebrities who are so-called gluten experts and books such as Wheat Belly and Grain Brain. For those who don't know, gluten is a protein found in grains... Continue Reading →
Ultimate Foods Grown in Our Own Backyard
At a recent agricultural conference I decided to take in a session with speaker Mairlyn Smith. Some of you may recognize her name. Mairlyn is a professional home economist who makes regular appearances on CityLine and Breakfast Television in Canada. She peppers her healthy cooking talks with a side of comedy. Check out her website. During... Continue Reading →
Stuff Worth Remembering
Last week I had the opportunity to attend an agricultural conference called FarmTech and I was really impressed with the high calibre of speakers who shared their stories and provided inspiration to the hundreds of people in attendance. I've decided to share my key takeaways from several of the sessions and keynote addresses. While the... Continue Reading →
Connecting Farmers and Consumers: Less Telling, More Asking
Earlier this week I read a great blog post written by ag journalist Holly Spangler. She shared Five Things Farmers Need to Know about Consumers on the Farm Progress Prairie Farmer blog. Read her post here. Point No. 4 resonated with me. Holly says, "We need to be less about 'telling our story,' and more... Continue Reading →
Turning Customers into Friends
Growing up in my part of the Canadian Prairies there weren't any Hutterite colonies in the area. There were some further away. Therefore I was aware of Hutterites but didn't know that much about them. For those of you who are not familiar with Hutterites, they are a communal people, living on hundreds of scattered colonies... Continue Reading →
The Real Takeaway from the Dr. Oz Show
Unfortunately, every day after work I arrive at the gym just in time for the Dr. Oz show. Why do I say unfortunately? Because I'm not a fan of Dr. Oz. His show is pure sensationalism. He overhypes pretty much every topic he addresses on the show and uses fear mongering simply to increase his... Continue Reading →
Cheese, Cranberries and Hazelnuts: British Columbia Agriculture at its Finest
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Canadian Farm Writers Federation annual conference. This year's event was held in British Columbia's beautiful Fraser Valley. I always look forward to this event for a few reasons. It's a time to reconnect with old friends and meet new friends; there are always great professional... Continue Reading →
Wordless Wednesday: It’s Harvest Time
#Harvest13 is in full swing on my family farm in southern Manitoba. I shared in a recent blog post that as a farm girl I wish I was there to help. But unfortunately I'm many miles away. So my young farmer brother has captured some harvest photos. Take a look! Check out this blog post... Continue Reading →
Rural Route Ramblings 