What a year it has been! As you may know, at SAIFood, we typically take the summer months off to recharge, and while there is plenty of things happening out in the world, we too need a break. Both Stuart and I have received our second vaccinations, and so it is time to break away from SAIFood to enjoy the summer heat and a COVID break from the news. It’s now our time to relax, see the faces we have missed since early 2020, and hopefully celebrate the end of our working from home.
Time doesn’t stand still in isolation
Since we came back from last summer’s little writing hiatus much has happened! If you are like me, you have been working from home, and have been tracking the pandemic numbers, you have exhausted the online streaming content, and frankly, you’re maybe a little sick of spending so much time on your digital devices. In this time we have experienced a provincial election in Saskatchewan, an early snowstorm, an American election, and now as vaccination numbers increase and hospitalization numbers fall, we look forward to expanding our horizons. We can celebrate that while we did our part to try to reduce the spread of the pandemic, scientists around the world achieved the amazing feat of getting vaccines tested and approved, thanks in part to the prioritization made to cut through the bureaucratic lines of regulation that typically become a long and costly hold-up problem. There have been ups and downs, wins and losses in the past year but we are hoping that we are entering into our new ‘normal’. And boy are we eager to learn what that will be this fall as we return to campus. By the fall, when SAIFood returns, our focus will be more on what research is coming out about our food, agriculture, and environment. However, being realistic, COVID-19 and its variants are not going anywhere fast and they have affected our lives so much, we are certain that this pandemic will be a factor in a number of our posts going forward. Whether it’s us reporting on the research of others assessing the impacts on society, student blogs on the policy we need to consider concerning the pandemic, or how it has influenced how we continue forward in work, research, education, policy-making, and most importantly communication. However, if there is something we aren’t covering that you want to know more about, let us know! Leave us a comment, shoot an email, Tweet us, as we want to hear from you, and know what content you are hoping to see SAIFood tackle.Your support is appreciated
Thank you so much for your support, it has meant a lot that during this exceptionally difficult time, you have taken time out of your day to check out our little corner of the internet. We are looking forward to returning this fall, sharing fresh new content for you to enjoy, and getting adjusted to our new normal. In the meantime, a little vacation is needed from thinking and discussing what was, what will be, and what’s to come. We wish everyone a safe and healthy summer. For our farming community audience, we hope that the weather improves and crops can be salvaged. Our thoughts go out to you this year, as we know it is a trying time for our ranchers and crop producers.