Nobody gets into the Manitoba agriculture sector for the fame, but occasionally, fame comes to those who’ve earned it.
The Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame came calling for two such people July 17. University of Manitoba canola scientist and researcher Michael Eskin and long-time farm journalist Allan Dawson stood up for their induction ceremony at Exhibition Place at the Red River Ex in Winnipeg.
Every year, the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame honours deserving nominees for their contribution to agriculture.
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Dawson, who retired from the Manitoba Co-operator last July, was lauded by the hall of fame for his work to build “awareness and understanding in the agricultural community through unbiased details and well-researched reporting on complex issues affecting the industry, and those who make their living from it.”
Dawson, 67, grew up in the Altamont area and has worked in ag journalism since 1980. He served as farm director at CISV Radio and as a freelancer before joining the Co-operator in 1983. Later, he and six colleagues founded a new farm paper, Farmers Independent Weekly, which merged with the Co-operator in 2007.
His work has earned accolades from the North American Agricultural Journalists Association — a group for which he served as president in 2022-23 — as well as the Canadian Farm Writers Federation and the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
Having interviewed many of the hall’s previous inductees over his career and worked with other honourees during his previous stint with the provincial ag department, Dawson said “to be in their company, it’s unbelievable to me.”
Along with those who nominated him and wrote letters of support, Dawson also thanked his extended family.
“My work-life balance wasn’t the best, but my family allowed me time to pursue the work I loved and found meaningful and I’m so grateful for that,” he said.
Canola contribution
Eskin, 82, came to the University of Manitoba from London, England, in 1968 and has since played “a pivotal role in transforming canola into the country’s most profitable food crop” and mentoring the next generation of scientists in Canadian agri-food, the hall of fame said.
His work has included characterizing enzymes responsible for fatty acid breakdown in canola, demonstrating its optimal frying parameters and stability for various food products and highlighting both the “hedonic attributes” — that is, the human acceptability and sensory preference of a food product — and preservation of canola oil in foods.
Honours over Eskin’s career have included the Order of Canada, Order of Manitoba and awards from the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology, Institute of Food Technologists and American Oil Chemists’ Society.
Of his acclaimed university textbook, Biochemistry of Foods, he noted its publisher recently contacted him with plans for a fourth edition: “I guess I’ll do it; I don’t think I’ll be around for the fifth edition,” he joked at the ceremony.
Eskin also launched into an a capella song — borrowing musically from Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado — about the perils and pitfalls of food science.
“Those synthetic foods that fill our desires with tastes that are not really there/You think you’re eating a raspberry pie, but it’s really a new-flavoured pear,” he sang.
‘An opportunity’
During the ceremony, hall of fame president Ted Eastley noted the hall’s gallery space at Keystone Centre in Brandon “has reached its physical capacity,” which he said poses logistical challenges. The hall’s board is working to find space for future inductee plaques.
“We also see this as an opportunity, a chance to modernize our hall of fame and embrace technology to tell the captivating stories of our inductees, forge connections with youth and preserve our cherished agricultural heritage,” he said.
The ceremony included the presentation of the hall of fame’s annual scholarship, a $1,000 award, to Messina Schrof, who graduated this summer from Sanford Collegiate and plans to attend the University of Manitoba in the fall.
Schrof’s “passion for agriculture is beautifully expressed” in her application letter and vision “to preserve the essence of family farming” is inspiring, said hall of fame board member Annette Young.
