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Agriculture

Grow, find and connect at the Westerner Park Urban Farm Festival!

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9 minute read

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

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Agriculture

Degrowth: How to Make the World Poorer, Polluted and Miserable

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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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To get our new weekly video from Stossel TV, sign up here: https://www.johnstossel.com/#subscribe

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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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Agriculture

How oil and gas support food security in Canada and around the world

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General view of the ‘TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic Showmanship’ within the 101st edition of Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, on November 6, 2023. The Royal is the largest combined indoor agriculture fair and international equestrian competition in the world. Getty Images photo

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Mario Toneguzzi

‘Agriculture requires fuel, and it requires lubricants. It requires heat and electricity. Modern agriculture can’t be done without energy’

Agriculture and oil and gas are two of Canada’s biggest businesses – and they are closely linked, industry leaders say.  

From nitrogen-based fertilizer to heating and equipment fuels, oil and gas are the backbone of Canada’s farms, providing food security for Canadians and exports to nearly 200 countries around the world.  

“Canada is a country that is rich in natural resources, and we are among the best, I would even characterize as the best, in terms of the production of sustainable energy and food, not only for Canadians but for the rest of the world,” said Don Smith, chief operating officer of the United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative.  

“The two are very closely linked together… Agriculture requires fuel, and it requires lubricants. It requires heat and electricity. Modern agriculture can’t be done without energy, and it is a significant portion of operating expenses on a farm.” 

The need for stable food sources is critical to a global economy whose population is set to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. 

The main pillars of food security are availability and affordability, said Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). 

“In Canada, availability is not so much an issue. We are a very productive country when it comes to agriculture products and food products. But food affordability has become an issue for a number of people,” said Currie, who is also on the advisory council for the advocacy group Energy for a Secure Future. 

The average price of food bought in stores increased by nearly 25 per cent over the last five years, according to Statistics Canada. 

Restricting access to oil and gas, or policies like carbon taxes that increase the cost for farmers to use these fuels, risk increasing food costs even more for Canadians and making Canadian food exports less attractive to global customers, CFA says. 

“Canada is an exporting nation when it comes to food. In order for us to be competitive we not only have to have the right trade deals in place, but we have to be competitive price wise too,” Currie said. 

Under an incredible Saskatchewan sky, a farmer walks toward his air seeder to begin the process of planting this year’s crop. Getty Images photo

Canada is the fifth-largest exporter of agri-food and seafood in the world, exporting approximately $93 billion of products in 2022, according to Agriculture Canada.  

Meanwhile, Canadians spent nearly $190 billion on food, beverage, tobacco and cannabis products in 2022, representing the third-largest household expenditure category after transportation and shelter. 

Currie said there are opportunities for renewable energy to help supplement oil and gas in agriculture, particularly in biofuels.  

“But we’re not at a point from a production standpoint or an overall infrastructure standpoint where it’s a go-to right away,” he said.  

“We need the infrastructure and we need probably a lot of incentives before we can even think about moving away from the oil and gas sector as a supplier of energy right now.” 

Worldwide demand for oil and gas in the agriculture sector continues to grow, according to CEC Research.  

Driven by Africa and Latin America, global oil use in agriculture increased to 118 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2022, up from 110 million tonnes in 1990.  

Demand for natural gas also increased — from 7.5 Mtoe in 1990 to 11 Mtoe in 2022.   

Sylvain Charlebois, senior director, in the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said food security depends on three pillars – access, safety, and affordability.   

“Countries are food secure on different levels. Canada’s situation I think is envious to be honest. I think we’re doing very well compared to other countries, especially when it comes to safety and access,” said Charlebois. 

“If you have a food insecure population, civil unrest is more likely, tensions, and political instability in different regions become more of a possibility.” 

As a country, access to affordable energy is key as well, he said.  

“The food industry highly depends on energy sources and of course food is energy. More and more we’re seeing a convergence of the two worlds – food and energy… It forces the food sector to play a much larger role in the energy agenda of a country like Canada.” 

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