Guelph - A milestone total of four million copies of The Real Dirt on Farming
booklet have now been distributed to Canadians from coast to coast. The Real Dirt on Farming,
available in English and French, is a national publication produced by Farm & Food Care (FFC) as
part of its mandate to answer consumers’ questions about food and farming.
The Real Dirt on Farming is designed to help Canadians connect with their food and the farmers
that produce it. Using results from consumer testing to shape the content, the booklet
addresses common questions and misconceptions about Canadian agriculture using both
stories and science. It provides credible and accessible explanations of topics like antibiotics,
pesticides, food labelling, genetic engineering, animal welfare and animal housing, and urban
agriculture. It also highlights the innovations that support our diverse food system, and shares
personal experiences of farmers from coast to coast. The Real Dirt on Farming provides
consumers with the tools and information to make informed choices about their food.
This latest publication is the fourth edition since the project’s inception in 2006. Canada’s
agriculture landscape is changing and the latest edition includes new data from Statistics
Canada’s 2016 Census of Agriculture, and new topics have been included to reflect questions
asked in a survey of 2,500 non-farming Canadians. Other subjects have also been expanded to
incorporate advances in science, changes to regulations and standard practices and new
consumer questions. Substantial effort is made in each edition to ensure all information
sources are credible and accessible to readers and the booklet is fact checked by a national
expert review committee before it goes to print.
Christine Schoonderwoerd, Chair of Farm & Food Care Ontario said, “The success of the booklet
continues to please us. When we first produced the booklet more than a decade ago, we had
no idea that the entire country’s agricultural community would adopt it as their own and help
take on the monumental task of getting copies into the hands of people who want this
information. ”
Distribution of the booklet varies from someone ordering a single copy to answer a neighbour’s
questions to ordering thousands for their local event. Supporters leave them in plane seat
pockets, at doctors’ offices, with their lawyers, for their church groups or book clubs, etc.
Thousands of copies are ordered by farmers, agribusiness and partners across the county. Kelly
Daynard, Executive Director of Farm & Food Care Ontario said, “It really has been a project that
the whole country has embraced.”
Since the release, copies have also been mailed to elected officials across Canada, Registered
Dietitians, libraries, media, grocery store and butcher shop owners and other target audiences.
The booklet is also used as a resource for many post-secondary students in culinary arts and
agribusiness programs. Recently, the digest was inserted in the Globe and Mail reaching
200,000 households across the country. Each copy came with the invitation for readers to share
their comments and questions with FFC staff. One reader of the Globe and Mail recently wrote
to say, “Thank you for distributing the Real Dirt on Farming. I will use this in talking with my
grandchildren about this important part of Canadian life.”
Another reader wrote, ““Thank you for the excellent publication I received in my Globe and
Mail yesterday. It is full of interesting information. I've read it through once, so far, and plan to
keep it to re-read and share with others.”
Other key distributions have included inserts in the National Post and Toronto Sun with plans
for similar insertions in the future.
Farm & Food Care would like to thank all of the partnering companies and organizations that
have supported each of the four editions. Their continued support has helped to make this
milestone possible. The Real Dirt on Farming is perfect for anyone interested in food and
farming or engaging with others in conversations about Canadian agriculture. To read The Real
Dirt on Farming, find out more about the project’s supporters and order copies go to
www.RealDirtonFarming.ca.