Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Words to live by
"Interestingly, koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches. When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long. In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world." -- Vince Poscente
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Prince Edward Islanders with a special interest in the work of the local international-development NGO Farmers Helping Farmers are invited to an orientation and information session on Saturday morning.
The session is part of the organization’s semi-annual meeting. Farmers Helping Farmers started in P.E.I. over 30 years ago. It maintains an ambitious and highly successful program of community-based projects, primarily in support of small-scale women farmers in Kenya.
The meeting will be held in the basement meeting room at St. Pete's Church Hall, All Souls’ Lane (off Rochford St.), Charlottetown from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
For more information, contact Harry Baglole at 675-4134.
The session is part of the organization’s semi-annual meeting. Farmers Helping Farmers started in P.E.I. over 30 years ago. It maintains an ambitious and highly successful program of community-based projects, primarily in support of small-scale women farmers in Kenya.
The meeting will be held in the basement meeting room at St. Pete's Church Hall, All Souls’ Lane (off Rochford St.), Charlottetown from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
For more information, contact Harry Baglole at 675-4134.
Wine and Cheese in Nova Scotia
Wine and cheese -- sounds like the perfect way to pass the time during this deep freeze in Atlantic Canada.
And just because there's a chill in the air doesn't mean you should hibernate. The annual Sheffield Mills Eagle Watch is coming up and Fox Hill Cheese House in Port Williams, N.S. is extending its hours during the Eagle Watch. Sunday, Jan. 25 from 1 - 6 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 from 1 - 6 p.m.
Bird lovers can drop in to Fox Hill Cheese House and pick up some of cheese, yogurt or gelato; admire the eagles perched in the tall trees en route!
www.eaglens.ca
Also coming up at Fox Hill Cheese House is the Ice Wine Festival, Feb. 12 - 22.
Velvety, Luscious and Sweet - Tempt your tastebuds with Foxhill Gelato drizzled with Icewine from local wineries
February 14 & 15: Foxhill Gelato with wines from Domaine de Grand Pre
February 21 & 22: Foxhill Gelato with wines from Gaspereau Vineyards
Time: 2 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 per serving
2009 Nova Scotia Winter Icewine Festival
And just because there's a chill in the air doesn't mean you should hibernate. The annual Sheffield Mills Eagle Watch is coming up and Fox Hill Cheese House in Port Williams, N.S. is extending its hours during the Eagle Watch. Sunday, Jan. 25 from 1 - 6 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 1 from 1 - 6 p.m.
Bird lovers can drop in to Fox Hill Cheese House and pick up some of cheese, yogurt or gelato; admire the eagles perched in the tall trees en route!
www.eaglens.ca
Also coming up at Fox Hill Cheese House is the Ice Wine Festival, Feb. 12 - 22.
Velvety, Luscious and Sweet - Tempt your tastebuds with Foxhill Gelato drizzled with Icewine from local wineries
February 14 & 15: Foxhill Gelato with wines from Domaine de Grand Pre
February 21 & 22: Foxhill Gelato with wines from Gaspereau Vineyards
Time: 2 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 per serving
2009 Nova Scotia Winter Icewine Festival
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ontario food marketing support ramped up
Ontario is boosting grassroots marketing efforts for Ontario foods and
strengthening rural economies by encouraging more residents and businesses to
buy locally grown food.
Ontario is initially investing more than $850,000 in 15 projects,
including, such as:
- A media awareness campaign to raise the profile of Ontario apples.
- A "Nothing Tastes Like Home" mobile educational trailer to market and promote "buying local" through cooking demonstrations and tasting opportunities at industry, community and school events.
- A Grey/Bruce county project to encourage growers to participate in the local food market, and to demonstrate that using local food is a viable option for area institutions and restaurants.
strengthening rural economies by encouraging more residents and businesses to
buy locally grown food.
Ontario is initially investing more than $850,000 in 15 projects,
including, such as:
- A media awareness campaign to raise the profile of Ontario apples.
- A "Nothing Tastes Like Home" mobile educational trailer to market and promote "buying local" through cooking demonstrations and tasting opportunities at industry, community and school events.
- A Grey/Bruce county project to encourage growers to participate in the local food market, and to demonstrate that using local food is a viable option for area institutions and restaurants.
Eating – Is there a solution to the confusion?
Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, is set to cut through the confusion when he addresses the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association on Friday, Jan. 16 in Saskatoon.
Conventional or organic? Local or imported? The confusion mounts when virtually every day brings news about some “miracle food” that we should be gulping down. One day it's tomatoes to prevent cancer, then flaxseed against heart disease or soybeans for menopause. Then there are the worries: genetic modification, pesticide residues, aspartame, MSG, the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. We need proper science to guide us through this nutritional maze.
Attendees will learn the proper science behind nutrition which will better enable them to dispel some of the myths driving various diet trends.
Schwarcz writes a weekly newspaper column in the Montreal Gazette entitled “The Right Chemistry” as well as a monthly column in Canadian Chemical News. He was the chief consultant on the Reader’s Digest best sellers “Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal” and “The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs.”
Conventional or organic? Local or imported? The confusion mounts when virtually every day brings news about some “miracle food” that we should be gulping down. One day it's tomatoes to prevent cancer, then flaxseed against heart disease or soybeans for menopause. Then there are the worries: genetic modification, pesticide residues, aspartame, MSG, the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. We need proper science to guide us through this nutritional maze.
Attendees will learn the proper science behind nutrition which will better enable them to dispel some of the myths driving various diet trends.
Schwarcz writes a weekly newspaper column in the Montreal Gazette entitled “The Right Chemistry” as well as a monthly column in Canadian Chemical News. He was the chief consultant on the Reader’s Digest best sellers “Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal” and “The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs.”
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Working Weekends
When I first started to work from home, I would spend my days goofing off. These were the times before blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even email, so I really have no idea how I wasted so much time. At least now I have an excuse!
My husband would come home from his office job and reality kicked in -- I still had a pile of writing to do. Yet he was at my office door wondering when I would be finished, if I wanted to go out, what I wanted to do with the evening. "Sorry," I had to say, "I've got work to do. Can't."
I did that maybe twice.
Working 9-5 isn't always possible, especially with laptops and Blackberries and iPhones keeping us connected. It's even harder, I think, when we work at home, since you're always "at the office." Even if you don't work from home, that Blackberry tends to keep humming right through the weekend.
Still, I do my best to watch the clock and keep somewhat regular working hours. I've gotten pretty good at it too -- except this weekend, where procrastination has lead me to my office and leaves me sitting at home working while everyone else is out for dinner.
I guess it's been a while since the fun left me behind at the computer and I needed a reminder. I'm lucky to have family who understands.
But dare I hope my family's dinner host tonight will send a doggy bag home for me??
My husband would come home from his office job and reality kicked in -- I still had a pile of writing to do. Yet he was at my office door wondering when I would be finished, if I wanted to go out, what I wanted to do with the evening. "Sorry," I had to say, "I've got work to do. Can't."
I did that maybe twice.
Working 9-5 isn't always possible, especially with laptops and Blackberries and iPhones keeping us connected. It's even harder, I think, when we work at home, since you're always "at the office." Even if you don't work from home, that Blackberry tends to keep humming right through the weekend.
Still, I do my best to watch the clock and keep somewhat regular working hours. I've gotten pretty good at it too -- except this weekend, where procrastination has lead me to my office and leaves me sitting at home working while everyone else is out for dinner.
I guess it's been a while since the fun left me behind at the computer and I needed a reminder. I'm lucky to have family who understands.
But dare I hope my family's dinner host tonight will send a doggy bag home for me??
Friday, January 09, 2009
Prince Edward Island potato farmers and other industry members are invited to attend the upcoming United Potato Growers of Canada seminars on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at the Delta Prince Edward Hotel and Wednesday, Jan 14 at Credit Union Place in Summerside.
The day-long seminars will provide excellent information.
- what’s happening in agriculture worldwide
- financial/risk analysis for potato growers
- how fiancial/risk analysis can be impacted by the decisions made on individual farms and as a province or country
- the U.S. approach to managing the potato market (as growers working together)
- what’s been happening on the Canadian side of the border in terms of better understanding potato market dynamics
- the latest developments in processing contract negotiations in North America.
The association says top-notch speakers from across North America will deliver this information, and, they say, the event will be extremely valuable as producers consider their plans for 2009.
The day-long seminars will provide excellent information.
- what’s happening in agriculture worldwide
- financial/risk analysis for potato growers
- how fiancial/risk analysis can be impacted by the decisions made on individual farms and as a province or country
- the U.S. approach to managing the potato market (as growers working together)
- what’s been happening on the Canadian side of the border in terms of better understanding potato market dynamics
- the latest developments in processing contract negotiations in North America.
The association says top-notch speakers from across North America will deliver this information, and, they say, the event will be extremely valuable as producers consider their plans for 2009.
Cities are eating up our prime farmland at the rate of two acres per minute 24-7-365. This loss of farmland leads us to ask…
How can we save enough farmland to maintain our food chain? (#619)
This Saturday at 9am Pacific, Michael Olson’s Food Chain Radio hosts Ellie Kastanopolous from Equity Trust and Jody Bolluyt from Hudson Valley’s Roxbury Farm for a conversation about holding on to farmland.
Listen on your radio, computer or IPOD: www.metrofarm.com.
Topics include whether enough privately-owned farmland can be saved to maintain the nation’s food chain; what alternatives exist to private ownership of farmland; and what results to these alternatives yield?
How can we save enough farmland to maintain our food chain? (#619)
This Saturday at 9am Pacific, Michael Olson’s Food Chain Radio hosts Ellie Kastanopolous from Equity Trust and Jody Bolluyt from Hudson Valley’s Roxbury Farm for a conversation about holding on to farmland.
Listen on your radio, computer or IPOD: www.metrofarm.com.
Topics include whether enough privately-owned farmland can be saved to maintain the nation’s food chain; what alternatives exist to private ownership of farmland; and what results to these alternatives yield?
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