View From the Legislature

Many years ago, when I was a student in Grade 5 at the Elmdale Elementary School, my class went on a very special field trip. It was a warm spring day and, as a class, we set off walking from the school to the newly opened Clearspring Village Shopping Centre.

There wasn’t much between Elmdale School and the Mall back in 1980 but it seemed like quite an adventure to walk to see this new shopping experience in Steinbach. One of the highlights of the visit was being able to tour “behind the scenes” of the newly opened Penner Foods which had moved from Main Street to become an anchor tenant at Clearspring. At Penner Foods our class learned about many things, not the least of which was agriculture and how the fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products were found in the store, but produced on a farm. As an aside, many years later I would work in the produce department at that same Penner Foods and this took on even greater importance to me.

Many of the students in my class in 1980, including me, had at least some first hand knowledge of farming. But much has changed since those days. Farming is still an incredibly important part of the Manitoba economy and to us here in the southeast, but the farms are bigger and more automated. A smaller percentage of our population and particularly our young people have that direct connection to the farm.

On Friday of last week, I got to pay a return visit to Elmdale School, this time not as a student but as Manitoba’s Education Minister. The visit was for the launch of Agriculture in the Classroom, a curriculum based program that provides resources for teachers to help students learn more about agriculture and the important role that it plays in Manitoba. During my visit I had the opportunity to meet with three classes to speak about the importance of farmers and farming.

We are fortunate to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And while poverty still impacts far too many, the reality is that for most children growing up in Canada, a food shortage isn’t something they will experience. That is largely the result of Canada being an abundant food producer. Helping new generations of students understand and appreciate the work that our farmers do to help provide food for us and other parts of the world is important to protecting it.

The Agriculture in the Classroom program is supported by farmers and producers, more than 160 throughout the province, who come to schools and classrooms and share their experiences about life on the farm. They will have the opportunity to speak to almost 8,000 students over the month. It is a way to help bring the farm into the classroom.

While younger Manitobans may not be as closely connected to the farm as in days past, the importance of farming is as great as ever.