Village News

When ‘Open Farm Day’ started ten years ago in Manitoba, I took my family to three different farms. The first farm had pony rides, soap made from their own goats and to our delight a mountain of straw bales to climb around. The second was the Glenlea research farm. We enjoyed the interactive info centre and learning about higher tech farming. Through a window we saw an obese pig that couldn’t move in its small pen with its piglets separated by a gate that went up and down at certain times to let them in and out. The third was Wildfire Farms near Vita. The farmer led us to his pasture and then rattled the fence. Bolting out to the long grass with the energy of the sun were three Heritage Berkshire pigs. Free to roam and dig outside they seemed very happy and healthy. My kids called them the sunshine pigs.

On the drive home we had an engaging discussion on the variety of farms we saw. The caricature of farms of their picture books (one red barn, three cows, two horses and a rolling field) did not teach them the reality of what we had just experienced. Farming is much more complex and variegated than it has ever been since Adam in the garden till this century. We have never had so many methods, research and types of farms as we have today. From a state-owned 22 million acre dairy farm in China to a 1 acre organic produce seller in Manitoba the variety is staggering.

Open Farm Day is our golden opportunity to get to know our farms and farmers again. Meat does not just come from the supermarket. The more we are aware of the process behind what we eat the better we can appreciate our food and not take it for granted. If we knew how many months, combined with the right kind of weather, farmer know-how, third-party processing and shipment it took to get that kernel of grain into a batch of flour – would we think again about throwing out those stale chips?

In honour of ‘Open Farm Day’ the Mennonite Heritage Village is providing free admission for that day. There will be wagon rides, scavenger hunts for the whole family and some ‘traditional’ farmers to talk with. Our grounds and Livery Barn restaurant will only be open a couple more weeks! September 30th will be your last chance for a good heaping of our famous vereniki and farm sausage.

Last week I wrote about how it is good to be in touch with the ‘rites of passage’ our culture has developed to deal with changing season. It is also good to know the ‘passage of food’ and to be mindful of how our culture has done it in the past. When we know where our food comes from, what has been done in the past and how it is processed now we can make healthy eating choices.