How do changing consumer eating habits impact farmers?

Sep 24, 2015

How will farmers meet the demand to feed 9 billion people?

In 1867 in Canada, when our nation began, 41% of labour jobs were on the farm. Today, less than 1% of the population are farmers – and that number continues to fall. Production farming, organic farming, urban farming – what will allow society to feed a population that continues to increase?

How will we produce enough food to feed 9 billion people? As poverty declines, consumption of proteins increases as well, so it is not just a growing population, consumers’ food habits are changing, placing even more demands on the food system. There are fundamental changes currently underway to food consumption in western countries. How will these trends impact food in the future?

Country Heritage Park is a group determined to preserve the history of our agricultural past, and more importantly, determined to show us the future of agriculture. On October 6th, Country Heritage Park is holding the first in a series of events on the Future of Food & Farming 2041. It will explore the changes and choices we are faced with as a society at both the global and local level with regard to the food we eat. The forum will explore a number of key issues such as creating a food future that’s better for people, profit, and the planet, as well as food design and innovation in the future.

The forum will also explore the challenges and opportunities to food security, climate change, land use and the environment, as well as how changing social values are impacting consumer behaviour related to food.

One of the keynote speakers at the event is Mike Lee. Lee runs a group that specializes in innovative design thinking for food products, experiences, and the creation of retail and foodservice concepts. Lee was part of a group that created “the Future Market” a grocery store in the year 2065 that demonstrates how very different consumer habits may be in the future. According to Lee, “we must implement massive structural shifts of innovation in our food system, without this there is no way to address the current, far less the future needs of people, planet and profit. Food & farming are the engines of society, they drive all other innovation.”

Farms.com is a proud sponsor of the Country Heritage Park, as well as the Future of Food and Farming Forum series.

For more information, visit Future of Food & Farming 2041:

http://www.countryheritagepark.com/whats-happening/future-of-food-and-farming-forum/

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.