I’ve seen over the last few days a lot of stories, comments, and mixed messages about farmers having to dump milk. I thought I’d clear a few things up with my perspective, direct from the farm. We were included in the farmers asked to dump milk. We dumped a little over 4,000 litres of raw,… Read More
Author: Andrew Campbell
Andrew is a dairy farmer in southern Ontario who also specializes in helping farmers learn about social media and advocacy. Once broadcasting farm news reports on the radio, he still likes to keep a close eye on news and issues relating to agriculture. Andrew is the owner of Fresh Air Media (http://www.thefreshair.ca), has a mild addiction to Twitter and believes the Brier & Scotties are the most important sporting events in the country.
Jubilant wouldn’t be the word I’d use the describe the majority of Canadians on this post-election day. That’s even truer in rural Canada. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed a clear mandate in his victory speech, the strength of his government looks like one with its knees cut out from under it. Of course, it… Read More
When it comes to addressing climate change, there is no shortage of money changing hands. Here in Canada, the federal government tacked on a $20/tonne carbon price for Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick after these provinces failed to meet Ottawa’s targets on carbon pricing. Without a “price on pollution” the federal backstop has become… Read More
After forcing some companies to change their labels over complaints of the Non-GMO Project Verified seal, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) now says the “butterfly” label does not imply a non-GMO claim. The regulatory enforcement change came last year, after complaints poured in from across the country regarding products that featured the Non-GMO Project… Read More
The first time I read it, it seemed like some kind of sick joke. A man, convicted in the death of his son, was recently slated to speak about healthy living at a “wellness expo.” Some backstory: David Stephan and his wife believed herbal treatments would cure their son’s meningitis. When they finally called 911,… Read More
Whenever I watch television, it doesn’t take very long before a dentist or doctor appears in a commercial, telling you which toothpaste to use or what to buy to live a healthy life. In those ads, the main spokesperson (or actor) is wearing a white coat. That white coat is used as a sign of… Read More
I’m fortunate enough to get to meet all kinds of farmers. Usually when we meet, the conversation is a standard one. What’s the weather been like or how is the harvest going? Politics, just like sex and religion, is usually left out of it. Until recently. Farmers keep bringing it up in their conversations. That… Read More
Over the last few months, the Conservative leadership contest has thrust a highly emotional issue for rural Canada into the spotlight— is supply management worth keeping or not? If you aren’t aware of the issue, one candidate, Maxime Bernier, is looking to eliminate the system. The rest of the field of candidates have said they… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is one of the cornerstones of food safety in Canada. Federal inspectors monitor meat and food processing plants, feed mills, and even farms. But beyond what we tend to hear in the media about inspections, the CFIA has much larger responsibilities, some of which need to be separated from… Read More
I’m a farmer that likes to leisurely scroll through Twitter a few times a day. A lot of my feed is fellow farmers sharing the things they are doing, reading & thinking. Earlier this month one popped up from a farmer in Manitoba. He was criticizing the move by a local cheese maker of his… Read More
It took an election over the Oval Office, but it seems some of the Internet’s biggest companies are now saying, just maybe, they have a role to play in wrangling up false and fake news. Google and Facebook have both announced that they will cut off the advertising revenue for websites that produce fake news…. Read More
We’re halfway through November, and I can pretty confidently say it is one the world is not likely to forget. Half of Americans are stunned and saddened. The other half are stunned and feel surreal. The rest of the world isn’t sure what to make of it. Good or bad, Trump is going to be… Read More
It’s an unusual case. Then again, it was an unusual incident. Most involving attention-seeking animal rights activists are. If you haven’t been following the case of an animal rights activist in Ontario giving water to a pig destined for slaughter, you’ve missed out on something that should shock you back to a changing world, far… Read More
If you listen to the radio in Canada at all, you’ve likely heard the same advertisement I’ve heard. It’s the man describing the 200 thousand kids that take part in the Timbits soccer program, with a child thinking 200 thousand children must be every kid in the world. Every time I the commercial, I wonder…how many… Read More
I said last month that I should start giving credit to more companies that do the right thing. I’m happy to say I can already do that. Thank you Earls. If you’ve been under a rock for the last few weeks (or at least not run into a Canadian beef farmer steaming with an opinion… Read More