On the drive out to Fairmont today we saw deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and bears - oh my! Since I am out here in the heart of fruit country I thought it would be appropriate to write a post about the other facets of agriculture out there beside BEEF!
My family is mainly involved in cattle production, so naturally cattle are what I know best! We also harvest our own crops to feed our own cattle and horses. But agriculture is much, much broader than just the cattle ranching and grain farming I've grown up with. Everything you eat is produced by a farmer or rancher. In Alberta, we often overlook the fact that our fruits and vegetables are also a huge commodity that are a part of the agriculture industry! After all fruit and vegetables are at the top of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating! Here is some "food for thought":
Sales of fruits and vegetables by Canadian farmers amounted to $1.4 billion in 2010, down by 2.4% from 2009. Farmers in two provinces – Ontario and Quebec – accounted for more than 80% of vegetable sales. The vast majority of fruit sales came from three provinces: British Columbia (41.9%), Ontario (28.8%) and Quebec (16.5%).
Sources Cited:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=22-003-X&CHROPG=1&lang=eng
There are many niche markets out there for fruit and vegetable growers such as producing and marketing their produce as organic (no pesticides or herbicides used), selling at local farmers markets (a great way to "eat local" is to buy your produce fresh from the farmer's market in your community), agritourism (opening up your farm or ranch to tourism and educating the public on the importance of agriculture), and U-pick farms (a facet of agritourism which involves allowing the public to pay to come to your farm and pick their own free produce). What great ways to advocate for agriculture!
Photograph Credits:
http://daa53yfo.blogspot.com/2011/05/fruit-and-vegetable-diet.html
http://www.routes5and20.com/whatsnew.cfm?id=64
