Launch of Ask SAIFood
Having grown up on a 125 head cow-calf operation on a section of land, I’m fortunate to still have family and friends involved in grain and livestock production to keep up with changes in the industry. In the summer, I plant a garden in my yard and teach my kids about picking wild berries. As my kids complain about standing in a bluff picking berries while being bitten by mosquitoes, I think they are fortunate to be learning about where food comes from and how it is produced.
Connecting with agriculture & food
As generations of consumer become less connected if, at all connected to farming and gardening, it is still important to understand where food comes from and how it is produced. It also seems those who are disconnected from the sector, are interested to know more about their food and agriculture systems. I regularly meet people through my kid’s sports or other social events where someone will ask me a question about agriculture, once they find out what I do for a living. Nearly everyone has a question or wondered about the validity of something they have heard about how food is produced. Most often, I’m able to answer them but there have been instances where I’ve had to do a bit of research or ask a colleague to be able to provide an answer.
After recently digging up the answer for a friend, I wondered if others have questions about agriculture and food. I checked with a few colleagues about this and they too find themselves being asked similar questions from time to time. So, as a response to the questions that people have about where and how food is produced, I’m very pleased to announce that I’m launching Ask SAIFood!!
If you have a question or questions about the production of crops, food or livestock, feel free to send it to me. There are 80 faculty in the College of Agriculture and Biosciences at the University of Saskatchewan that I am able to draw upon for answers and have a network of another 100 academics involved in this research space. No effort will be spared to find you an answer.
Looking forward to hearing from you with any related questions you might have!!
~Stuart Smyth
