Agriculture
Grow, find and connect at the Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival!
Westerner Park has strong agriculture roots as one of the largest agricultural societies in Alberta and what better way to showcase our agriculture then through a celebration of food! The Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival focuses on education, encouraging and inspiring people to be knowledgeable about food production and preservation.
Urban Farm Festival & Planting
Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival, presented by Peavey Mart, is going to have a full day of activities, workshops and demonstrations. The community will learn what they can grow in their own backyard, and so much more! The Festival will be an environment where local producers can showcase their products and share their agricultural story. Guests will enjoy a petting zoo, face painting, local vendors, and local producers.
Let’s come together, learn to grow local food and connect with the community at Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival! Keep reading for details on our keynote speaker and the many awesome workshops you can participate in!
Key Note Speaker:
Shannon and Danny Ruzicka- Pioneer Principles In The Land Of The Entitled
12:30 pm
Shannon Ruzicka, along with her husband Danny, own and operate Nature’s Green Acres, a small farm near Viking, Alberta. There they raise grass fed nouveau beef, pastured lamb and bush-raised heritage pork, which they direct market to individuals and RGE RD restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta. On top of the physical farming, Shannon takes care of the marketing, customer service and troubleshooting of Nature’s Green Acres all the while homeschooling their three children.
In 2016 the Ruzicka’s successfully completed a year long quest to grow and raise all their food. Shannon is in the process of writing a book about their year. Shannon has had the pleasure of speaking at numerous food and farming conferences over the years and looks forward to many more!
Workshops:
Butter Making Presented by Butter Babes
10:30 am
$35
Join me for a fun workshop on making butter where you will learn about what can be made just by using 1 Liter of cream and which household items to use in order to make your own creamy fresh butter! You will be making your own flavorful Compound Butter by selecting fresh herbs and spices from the “butter bar”. All ingredients are included.
Veggie Container Garden Presented by TJ’s Market
12:30 pm
$30
Learn how to grow a bountiful garden in a container. Walk away with your mini garden patch ready to go! Choose from a tomato combo or a pepper combo and add chives, basil, thyme, cilantro or oregano.
Hanging Basket Presented by TJ’s Market
10:30 am
$30
Learn how to plant and grow a beautiful hanging basket. Choose any 4 from Petunias,Lobelia,Pansy, Calibrachoa, Bacopa and Dianthus.
Soil Health & Garden Planning Presented by TJ’s Market
2:30 pm
Free
We want to get you started thinking about how to plan your garden, and taking the first important step of getting the beds ready for planting. Soil health plays a big factor in the success of your garden. In this workshop you will learn how soil compaction, disturbing soil hardpan, living organisms in the soil, weed controls, composting, fertilizers, crop rotation, and raised beds affects your growing potential.
Canning Presented by Peavey Mart
12:30 pm and 2:30 pm
Just like Grandma and Grandpa used to do! Come learn a traditional way to make pickles and jam from the fruit and vegetables in your own garden. We will guide you through how to make your own pickles and jam, explain the basics, tools needed, food safety and more.
Urban Bees Presented by Peavey Mart
10:30 am
Free
Many are becoming aware of the importance of pollinators. While there are a variety of pollinators, this introductory presentation will focus on honeybees. Some municipalities in Western Canada are allowing small scale apiaries. Come hear from a hobbyist beekeeper to provide an introduction to honey bee basics including life cycles, identification, good husbandry, necessary equipment, honey extraction & more.
Urban Hens Presented by Peavey Mart
10:30 am and 12:30 pm
Free
Have you ever wondered what owning backyard chickens would be like? Whether you’re in the city, acreage or even a farm. Red Deer is one of the many cities in Alberta that allow hens in city limits, come hear from chicken owners & experts. This session will cover: A guide to getting started, breed selection, coop set-up, illness and disease, good husbandry, bio-security and more.
Succulent Driftwood Planter
2:30 pm
$95
Succulent Driftwood Planter Join in for a fun, on trend succulent workshop! The rectangular log planter provides a perfect space for arranging a natural looking, unique design. With high-quality everlasting succulents, various mosses for colour and texture and bird’s nest you’ll achieve a whimsical affect, which extends its use for all seasons.
Extending The Gardening Season In Central Alberta Presented by Linda Tomlinson
10:30am
Free
Do you want to get started gardening as early in the spring as possible? Would you like to be able to extend your growing season here in Central Alberta? Learn different methods of extending the season for vegetable gardens including: mulches, fences, early plantings, hoops, plastics and polyspun cloth, and how early can you plant.
Dividing perennials to keep them healthy Presented by Linda Tomlinson
2:30 pm
Free
Learn when and how to divide your perennials to keep them healthy and share with friends. In this workshop you will learn how to divide and propagate and when is the best time. As well as how to divide perennials based on their root system. You will also learn about tap roots, tubers, creeping roots and ground covers.
Native Bees In Your Habitat Presented by Charity Briere
2:30 pm
$30
When people hear “Save The Bees” they usually think of honey bees, however there are 400 species of native bees that live in North America that need help to. Red Deer is home to 250 species of native bees, and by providing them with food and habitat, we can help ensure that they continue to thrive. This workshop will cover some basic bee biology, diversity, life cycle. You will learn how you can support them in your yard and finish up by building your own pollinator hotel to take home with you!
Rainwater Harvesting – From Buckets to Barrels
Free
As a project lead for Rethink RedDeer, Rene Michalak has helped bring resilient community planning to the forefront of public dialog in Central Alberta
Rene is an accredited rainwater harvesting system installer and as of 2012, a practicing permaculture designer (2009) and certified permaculture educator (2016). His urban homestead has collected 4000 liters of water over the winter of 2017, which was used to irrigate the properties perennial food forest and annual gardens.
In this workshop you will gain an understanding of what rainwater harvesting is, and how it is being used to benefit consumers, municipalities and the environment. We will go over the basic components and operating considerations of indoor and outdoor rain water harvesting systems in Alberta, and showcase examples of residential and commercial systems in operation!
The Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival takes place on Saturday, May 12 from 10am to 4pm at Westerner Park
Agriculture
Bill C-282, now in the Senate, risks holding back other economic sectors and further burdening consumers
From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Bill C-282 currently sits in the Canadian Senate and stands on the precipice of becoming law in a matter of weeks. Essentially, this bill seeks to bestow immunity upon supply management from any potential future trade negotiations without offering increased market access to potential trade partners.
In simpler terms, it risks holding all other economic sectors hostage solely to safeguard the interests of a small, privileged group of farmers. This is far from an optimal scenario, and the implications of this bill spell bad news for Canadians.
Supply management, which governs poultry, egg, and dairy production in Canada, has traditionally enabled us to fulfill our domestic needs. Under this system, farmers are allocated government-sanctioned quotas to produce food for the nation. At the same time, high tariffs are imposed on imports of items such as chicken, butter, yogurt, cheese, milk, and eggs. This model has been in place for over five decades, ostensibly to shield family farms from economic volatility.
However, despite the implementation of supply management, Canada has witnessed a comparable decline in the number of farms as the United States, where a national supply management scheme does not exist. Supply management has failed to preserve much of anything beyond enriching select agricultural sectors.
For instance, dairy farmers now possess quotas valued at over $25 billion while concurrently burdening dairy processors with the highest-priced industrial milk in the Western world. Recent data indicates a significant surge in prices at the grocery store, with yogurt prices alone soaring by over 30 percent since December 2023. This escalation is increasingly straining the budgets of many consumers.
It’s evident to those knowledgeable about the situation that the emergence of Bill C-282 should come as no surprise. Proponents of supply management exert considerable influence over politicians across party lines, compelling them to support this bill to safeguard the interests of less than one percent of our economy, much to the ignorance of most Canadians. In the last federal budget, the dairy industry alone received over $300 million in research funds, funds that arguably exceed their actual needs.
While Canada’s agricultural sector accounts for approximately seven percent of our GDP, supply-managed industries represent only a small fraction of that figure. Supply-managed farms represent about five percent of all farms in Canada. Forging trade agreements with key partners such as India, China, and the United Kingdom is imperative not only for sectors like automotive, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology but for the vast majority of farms in livestock and grains to thrive and contribute to global welfare and prosperity. It is essential to recognize that Canada has much more to offer than merely self-sufficiency in food production.
Over time, the marketing boards overseeing quotas for farmers have amassed significant power and have proven themselves politically aggressive. They vehemently oppose any challenges to the existing system, targeting politicians, academics, and groups advocating for reform or abolition. Despite occasional resistance from MPs and Senators, no major political party has dared to question the disproportionate protection afforded to one sector over others. Strengthening our supply-managed sectors necessitates embracing competition, which can only serve to enhance their resilience and competitiveness.
A recent example of the consequences of protectionism is the United Kingdom’s decision to walk away from trade negotiations with Canada due to disagreements over access to our dairy market. Not only do many Canadians appreciate the quality of British cheese, but increased competition in the dairy section would also help drive prices down, a welcome relief given current economic challenges.
In the past decade, Canada has ratified trade agreements such as CUSMA, CETA, and CPTPP, all of which entailed breaches in our supply management regime. Despite initial concerns from farmers, particularly regarding the impact on poultry, eggs, and dairy, these sectors have fared well. A dairy farm in Ontario recently sold for a staggering $21.5 million in Oxford County. Claims of losses resulting from increased market access are often unfounded, as farmer boards simply adjust quotas when producers exit the industry.
In essence, Bill C-282 represents a misguided initiative driven by farmer boards capitalizing on the ignorance of urban residents and politicians regarding rural realities. Embracing further protectionism will not only harm consumers yearning for more competition at the grocery store but also impede the growth opportunities of various agricultural sectors striving to compete globally and stifle the expansion prospects of non-agricultural sectors seeking increased market access.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.
From StosselTV
Activists have a new goal: “DEgrowth.”
They say “growth is killing us.” They couldn’t be MORE wrong.
“Growth is not killing us. It’s saving us!” says author Johan Norberg. He explains why growth is essential to human progress, especially for poor people. “In poor countries, if you manage to grow by 4% annually over 20 years,” he points out, “that reduces poverty in that country on average by 80%.
But DEgrowth activists insist that growth means “climate chaos.” They say a smaller economy would be “sweeter.” They say “We must urgently dismantle capitalism!” It’s destructive nonsense. This video explains why.
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After 40+ years of reporting, I now understand the importance of limited government and personal freedom.
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Libertarian journalist John Stossel created Stossel TV to explain liberty and free markets to young people.
Prior to Stossel TV he hosted a show on Fox Business and co-anchored ABC’s primetime newsmagazine show, 20/20. Stossel’s economic programs have been adapted into teaching kits by a non-profit organization, “Stossel in the Classroom.” High school teachers in American public schools now use the videos to help educate their students on economics and economic freedom. They are seen by more than 12 million students every year.
Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.
Other honors include the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.
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