In 1900, about 40 percent of the population farmed. Today, it is closer to one percent. Throughout the better part of  the 20 th century it was taken for granted that most people raised in the country would end up in the city. My father  was the only one of nine siblings who stayed on the farm. There were many reasons why urbanization took place so  quickly.  Until the 1920s, agriculture expanded by putting more land into production. The years from 1920 to 1970, sometimes referred to as the “mechanization period,” saw technological advances fueled in large part by cheap and abundant  fossil-fuel energy. Evermore efficient farm machinery along with pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizer  doubled and tripled production per acre and the average farm grew from 160 to many thousands of acres. From  1970 to the present, known as the “saturation period,” increasing energy input became subject to the law of  diminishing returns. While we ...

When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s on a mixed farm in Southern Manitoba I lived about as close to  most of our family’s food supply as one can imagine. My mother’s large garden furnished all the vegetables we ate year-round, and our meat came from the farm animals we butchered. I remember my father telling my urban uncles that, apart from his need to import salt and sugar onto his farm, we were basically self- sufficient.  Our city relatives descended on our farm every fall in droves to cash in on the local bounty. They especially  liked the bargain of a hundred pounds of potatoes for a dollar. My siblings and I, and even our city  cousins, had a good idea where our food came from, and it was not from very far away. A lot has changed since then. Most children growing up today only have a vague idea of where their food really comes from and how far it has traveled to get to them. Even many young parents don’t seem to  know much more.  So how far has the f...

  The other day, someone who falls into the high-risk category for COVID 19 was picking up some items at the  Farmer’s Market.   Because of her own risk factors, but also because she has family members who are high-risk, she  wore a mask as is currently advised by public health.  She was confronted by someone who argued that COVID-19  was “blown out of proportion” and that “a true person of faith wouldn’t live in fear and wear a mask.”    I am disturbed by this behaviour on two accounts.  First, the person who confronted the mask wearing individual  is someone who works with vulnerable people,  and comments about her beliefs about COVID-19 being blown out  of proportion suggest to me that she likely wouldn’t be someone who would take the necessary precautions (at least  not outside of her working environment).  Case in point: her comments were not stated from a respectful distance  of 2 meters.  Rather,...

  Did you know that on average, 80% of household waste in Canada could have been either  composted or recycled? What a waste - literally.  The good news is that Altona can be applauded for doing well above the national average with  58% of household waste ending up in the landfill. In addition, over half of residents report  having only 1 garbage bag a week. Compared to 2019, waste sent to landfill is down 3% so  far in 2020. All indications are that Altona is headed in the right direction in reducing waste.   Since Altona launched its year-round compost program, many people have reported how  amazed they are to find what little waste they have left after they started composting. Your  green bins are intended to collect organic waste from both inside and outside your house, so  set up a collection system in your home and witness how little of your garbage is actually  garbage. From banana peels to paper towels - it’s compostable. Co...

  As we near the end of summer and many of us are thinking about heading back to school it’s a good time to think about the daily choices we make. It’s estimated that the average North American will produce 600  times their own weight in garbage over their lifetime. Yet by rethinking some of our daily practices such  as how we pack our lunches, we can reduce that number and prevent a great deal of garbage from ending  up in our landfill.     A litterless or waste-free lunch means that there is no packaging to throw away when you’re done.  All  that’s left are biodegradable extras such as apple cores and banana peels which can be composted.   This means using reusable food and drink containers instead of disposable plastic packaging, washable  cutlery instead of disposable utensils, and eating homemade instead of prepackaged foods.   The most obvious reason for a litterless lunch is the massive amounts of garbage that packa...