The Open Farm Day Coordinator with the Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies says the annual Open Farm Celebration in Manitoba is all about giving the public a chance to learn more about where their food comes from.
Open Farm Day was started about 6 years ago as a way of informing the public about agriculture, agritourism and all of the different facets of the industry, to help those involved in the industry to promote agriculture and to allow people to find out what happens on a farm.
Wendy Bulloch, the Open Farm Day Coordinator with the Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies, says about 35 sites, including agricultural museums, operating farms and educational farms will be opening their doors to the public on Sunday.
Lots of people look at agriculture as being corporately run and many of the farms are registered as a corporation but they’re family farms so that family is working to promote the industry and to have a way of life. It’s also considered a business. Others have chosen to go different paths so they may be looking at a different form of agriculture but they’re all wanting to promote it and they all believe in it.
I think we have to remember, as much as we kind of forget, when we walk into the grocery store and we see the variety of foods that are available to us, agriculture still plays a major role here in Manitoba. And so we should always remember and understand where does our food come from?
Milk isn’t just bought a the Safeway store or the Superstore, it actually does come from a farm and there’s stringent regulations that dairy producers do have to follow so there’s all kinds of different things for the general public to learn and to appreciate about where our food comes from.
Bulloch says a lot of us have been removed from the farm and are 2 or 3 generations from the farm so this event provides an opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the role agriculture plays.
For more information on the event and the location of participating sites visit openfarmday.ca.
