My daughter is an Eco Kid at her school. She's not much into sports, so I was thrilled when she joined the environmental club. They meet once a week, discuss ways to make the school greener and, from the sounds of her accounts of the meetings, share a lot of giggles. Shouldn't every Grade 4 event be like that?
To mark Earth Day, the Eco Kids and their faculty advisor organized a fair at the school, transforming the gym into a trade show and inviting local businesses to show off their green wares. I went in on Tuesday night to help set up. One of the booths was a spin-the-wheel trivia game for the students -- spin the wheel, answer a trivia question and, if you get the answer right, win a prize.
Thumbing through environmental trivia cards, I was truly disheartened that the game shed such a negative light on farming and made agriculture producers out to be ecological villains.
Lots of questions bashing genetic research, fertilizer use and pest controls. One questions asked: "what tools do farmers use that damages the earth?" (Answer: farm machinery, since it compacts the soil and therefore destroys vital nutrients.) No mention of drought resistant crops, no-till practices or pest resistant crops.
As you’ll read in this week's edition of AgriSuccess Express, out later today by email, we have a story about the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and other industry practices that continues to promote the good things producers are doing to care for the earth.
However, we need to ensure that each of us at an individual level is also doing what we can to share the news, so local schools, neighbours and our communities know that producers are the original stewards of the land.
