Why do we do it?

Rob and I both work off of the farm.  At calving time this keeps us both very busy.  Only one of our co-workers is also involved in Agriculture.  Usually during our coffee breaks the discussion of how we spent our evening or weekend comes up.  My input at this time of the year often involves a calving story.  Details can include one of us getting up during the night, the cold weather, bringing a calf into the house to warm up (that was this morning, when it was -32C).  Over the past few years the topic of what we sell our cattle for has also entered into the discussion.  There have been some really lean years for people in agriculture.  Whether you have been raising beef, pork, or crops.  One co-worker in particular usually asks, "Well why do you keep doing it then?"  Good question - "Why are we still in Agriculture?'  Some days I wonder that my self, but most days these are some of the reasons that keep us going:

• Knowing that we have a connection to the land and that we are a part of feeding the world
• Seeing a calf being born and taking it's first drink of milk.

• Finding the beauty in a cold winter morning by seeing the calves run through the snow.

• Being able to raise our children and someday our grandchildren in an environment that is healthy and where they are able to learn values and responsibility.

With every job there are sacrifices and hard work along the way, but I don't think either of us would be any happier just working a day job and giving up the farm.  We know that each year may bring successes and hardships and no matter what we do sometimes that end result will be taken out of our hands.  It's not a glamorous job, but we sure do need people to want to do it.  I hope that those that are not directly connected to agriculture can have an appreciation of what we do and why we do it. 

I’m Just a Farmer, Plain and Simple

By Bobby Collier

I’m just a farmer,

Plain and simple.

Not of a royal birth

But rather, a worker of the earth.

I know not of riches

But rather, of patches on my britches

I know of draught and rain,

Of pleasure and pain.

I know of the good and the bad,

The happy and the sad.

I am a man of emotions.

A man who loves this land,

And the beauty of its sand.

I know of a spring’s fresh flow

And autumn’s golden glow,

Of a newborn calf’s hesitation,

And the eagle’s destination.

I know of tall pines,

And long, waiting lines.

Of the warmth of campfires,

And the agony of flat tires.

 But I am a man who loves his job

And the life I live.

I am a man who works with God,

I cannot succeed without his help,

For you see,

I’m just a farmer

Plain and simple.

Queen Victoria Market - Melbourne

Once we arrived in Melbourne, we met up with our daughter Crystal, Barry, Myrna,& Kerrie Bennet, Robert & Carol Lind and Dana & Gilles Lajoie (Hicks).We weren't officially registered with the World Simmental Congress as we wanted to do a few different things.  The Simmental Cattle were not at the showgrounds yet, so we spent a morning at the Queen Victoria Market. Now Rob is not really a shopper, but was being a good sport and went along.

The first Hall that we went into was the Meat Hall . Once we were inside, he was in his element.  Queen Victoria Market is Victoria's premier open-air market.

The friendly competition between stallholders, and their concern for customers, is what gives the Market its Old World charm and the addictive power to draw millions of visitors each year.

This vendor explained the Aussie Beef Market to us.  We had him wearing a I Love Alberta Beef Pin before we left.

The vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere of this historic site has endeared the Market to Melburnians for 130 years. The Market is probably best known for its huge variety of fresh produce. Almost 50% of the Market area is dedicated to the sale of fresh produce, including fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, chicken, seafood and delicatessen products.

The remainder of the Market is used for variety and speciality goods, with Sundays being the most popular day for this category.

The Market is divided into a number of Market Precincts; the Deli Hall, Elizabeth Street Shops, F shed laneway, Vic Market Place Food Court, Fruit and Vegetables, The Meat Hall, Organics, General Merchandise, Victoria Street Shops and the Wine Market.

With 10 fishmongers, Queen Victoria Market seafood section offers the best range of quality fresh fish and seafood in Melbourne - it's a seafood hot spot. The range includes fresh whole fish, fillets (both fresh- and salt-water varieties) and myriad crustacean species. In 1995 a powerful air-conditioning system was installed, allowing the Hall to be used as a boning room outside of trading hours.

 



Many businesses in the Hall specialise in particular cuts and styles of meat, for example, in offal or sausages. Others are pork specialists (selling only female pork, which is sweeter). Still others sell meat cut to suit particular cuisines, such as Italian or Asian.



Some of the Waygu and Angus Beef for sale.







Meals in the Field

One of my best memories growing up was taking meals to the field during harvest for my dad and uncles.  We would cook a full hot meal, box it up in the pots and take it to the field for the men.  If we were lucky we would get to do a few rounds in the combine or truck.  Then we would sit in the back of the half ton and eat with all of the men.  When they were finished we would head back home, and do all of the dishes - no eating off of paper plates!  Then around 11:00 we would go back out to the field with tea and cinnamon toast.  Those were the days when the wife's were there to run to town for parts, look after the children and make sure the men were fed.  Now a days the women are doing all of those things along with running a combine, swather or truck part time.  That doesn't leave a lot time for cooking.

There is a new program being sponsored by one of the local banks in Alberta and a meat company called Meals in the Field.  The concept is similar to Meals on Wheels for older people that have difficulty cooking for themselves, but it is for farmers.  You can nominate a farmer and if they are selected the volunteers from the radio station, bank and meat company show up at your field with a BBQ, and all of the fixings for a meal for 15 people.  This is going to happen once a week throughout September. 

This got me to thinking.  Maybe our urban friends or acreage neighbors would like to adopt a farm family for harvest.  You could arrange a night to cook for the harvest crew and take the meal out to them.  It would be a great time to learn about the crops and how the harvest is coming along.  I know that it would be appreciated.  Good luck to everyone with harvest.  Let's hope there is a Indian Summer for us this year.

100 Mile Food Challenge

Last night we were channel surfing - you can always tell when summer is here by the  low choices of quality TV. When we came across the show 100 Mile Food Challenge on the Food Network.  This may have been a rerun, but the concept was very interesting.  For 100 days the city of Mission, BC took the challenge to only eat foods that were grown and produced within 100 miles of their municipality.  Sounds easy right?  Then they showed the residents cleaning out their refrigerators and pantry's.  They meant everything that wasn't local.  Salt, soy sauce, ketchup, pepper etc.  Now the goals for this project were to bring an awareness of the food that is available to residents produced by local farmers and to have people eating less packaged food from other countries. 

I started to think about what I would eat on a daily basis, if I was to only buy from local farmers.  I know there would be a great supply of beef, pork, chicken, eggs, potatoes on a regular basis.  For our vegetables there is several Farmers Markets and the local Hutterite colony.  I would probably have to take more time preparing meals and shopping.  The real challenge for me would be the spices, and staples - salt, flour, sugar.  The mayor of the city was one of the families highlighted.  He had to change his drinking habits too - only locally produced wine and beer.  No Vodka from Russia and even Whiskey that was Canadian was off the list.  The one item that affected almost every household was coffee and tea.

Our local county started a project last year called the  100K Kitchen Party.  Based on the 100 mile diet philosophy the 100K Kitchen Party takes the Canadian spin on it. All components of the project are based on utilizing the foods grown within a 100K radius of Drayton Valley, this takes in portions of the Counties of Parkland, Yellowhead, Woodlands, Lac St. Anne, Clearwater, Leduc, Wetaskiwin, and Ponoka.

The 100K Kitchen Party is looking to the past to preserve our future, here are some of the reasons why.  As the agriculture industry faces the trials and tribulations of the global economy, we are seeing more farmers retiring and the Ag parcels getting smaller and smaller. There is an opportunity for the agriculture industry to capitalize on the growing demand for locally produced foods that have not been treated with pesticides and chemicals so that they can be transported from far away. Between health concerns, concerns regarding carbon emissions used to transport the foods, and our awareness of our global dependence in this shaky economy, people are starting to remember the old days where the food you bought was from your neighbor, and you or someone you trusted processed it. There were no scares of listeria or melamine years ago, there weren't the allergies and reactions either - people are catching on and the 100 Mile Diet is taking off, this is an opportunity for our agriculture community to remain doing what they love to do and to profit by it.  The 100K Kitchen Party is sustainable in the triple bottom line of economics, environment and social. It is a huge 3 year project, that includes:

• Traditional Food Processing
• International Food Processing
• Eat Local Program
• Food Processing Cooperative
•  100K Map

I'm not sure I am up for eliminating all food from our diet that isn't local, but trying to only eat Canadian for a while seems manageable.  Could you be successful at the 100 Mile Food Challenge?