It’s hard not to have a soft spot for farm families attempting to participate in the local food movement. For one thing, they put a fresh face on farming, as many are younger than the greying statistical demographic of Canadian farmers. That said, it’s much easier to partake in a 100-mile diet living on the
Rules and reality
Hen haven maximizes productivity too
Visitors to the the Rondeel Berkoeve in Wintelre don’t get past the front entrance without first saying hello to thousands of curious layer hens pushing up against the outside fence for a closer look at the newcomers. A scenic path leads to the front entrance which features informational posters on the facility and a place
Dutch farmer finds animal health and welfare go hand in hand
Gerbert Oosterlaken wants animal welfare advocates on his side instead of the opposition
Some have described the Netherlands as a living laboratory for sustainable intensive livestock production. With 16.7 million people living with 11 million hogs, 80 million chickens and 400,000 cows in an area that is one-fifteenth the size of Manitoba, it is impossible for the animal industry to operate below the public’s radar. Growing public distaste
Editorial: Everybody is responsible
The livestock industry in the Netherlands has had to make a lot of changes to comply with growing public pressure for more environmentally sustainable and humane practices. But it hasn’t had to do it alone. That fact was inescapable during a recent whirlwind tour of Netherlands livestock operations by a Canadian delegation, courtesy of the
Getting the mail — and much, much more
Tucked away in various corners of this old house are bundles of letters, held together by elastic bands or stuffed into a big envelope. One of those bundles dates back more than 60 years. It was exchanges between two young people working in different communities the year before they married. That bundle of letters survived
Is “adequate” good enough?
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is doing his best to put a brave face on what appears to be a looming train wreck when it comes to getting this year’s crop to market. While rail movement of 5,000 to 5,500 cars per week to export ports is high by historical standards, grain companies are reporting a
The value of trees
On bitterly cold and blustery winter days on the farm, there wasn’t much by way of trees to block our view of those fiery red sunsets framed by sundogs over the drifting snow. It’s a view I am glad I experienced. But as beautiful as it was, it’s not a view I miss. We grew
The rise of Twitter and other modern mysteries
One of the great mysteries of the modern world has to be how a company like Twitter, a micro-blogging medium built around delivering short bursts of inconsequential information, can attract a value of $25 billion in its initial stock offering when the company hasn’t turned a profit since it was formed seven years ago —
As we remember…
I don’t know a lot about my grandfather’s experiences as a sergeant with the horse brigade in the First World War. He didn’t talk about it with us; I doubt he talked about it much to anyone. It just wasn’t done in those days. I do know that while he never fought in the trenches,
Waste not, want not
As we exchanged introductions over breakfast in Des Moines, the reporter from Beijing leaned over and said, “so you’re the one who keeps asking about the food waste.” “Yep, that would be me,” I replied, thinking this puts a new twist on the notion of muck-raking journalism. The annual World Food Prize/Borlaug Dialogue here is