Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative Logo

Since our first meeting in October 2006, we have been working closely with the farmers and supporting partners of the Harvest Moon Society Local Food Initiative to develop a collective marketing group to bring locally produced food to the homes of Manitobans. It has been an intense, challenging and highly rewarding two and half years and we have accomplished a great deal. We began moving food from farm to fork in late 2008 and are tweaking and re-ordering our distribution, communication and transportation systems to meet both the needs of the farmers and eaters involved in this initiative. The launch of a website provides an important tool for communicating with the participants in this small scale food network. You can check it out at www.harvestmoonfood.ca.  This summer should be an exciting one for the Local Food Initiative and a true test of this initiative.  This experiment represents a unique challenge to the conventional food system that provides a direct connection between the farmer and eater, a fresh and fair food product and an opportunity to be a part of a growing movement that celebrates relationships, food, farmers and community.

Continue reading New Video - Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative

Word Cloud - PrioNet Poster 2009

Last week, I attended a conference in Edmonton hosted by PrioNet Canada. PrioNet was established in response to the socio-economic fallout and the potential human health implications of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow crisis in 2003. The organization has evolved substantially since then. Attendees at the conference included academics, politicians, bureaucrats, students, and one farmer (as far as I could tell). The majority of the delegates were Scientists working to uncover the mystery of the Prion or the protein that is believed to be the cause of BSE and other related diseases including Chronic Wasting Disease, Scrapie and the human variant of BSE: Creutzfelt Jacob Disease. A very small minority of attendees was researching the socio-economic impacts and the ongoing evolution of the farm community/industry.

I presented an academic poster at this conference. For those of you who aren’t familiar with academic posters, you can think of it as a glorified science fair - a visual way to present your research. My poster design and message was a bit of an experiment this year and a move away from the more quantitative and text-heavy posters in the two previous PrioNet years. I attempted to draw viewers in with a provocative title (Adaptation: The Missing Link in Prion Research?) and send some very clear messages with very little text. The basic messages that I intended to send were:

1. We need to incorporate adaptation (how farms and other actors in the livestock industry change their behavior in response to crisis) into BSE risk management and assessment
2. Increase public funding (including within PrioNet) for community-level adaptation efforts and research
3. Locate BSE within the broader context (globalization, rural decline, etc.)
4. Shift from single scale (e.g. industry or government) to attempt to understand the relationships between multiple scales

I had a few excellent conversations with some of the Scientists but most of the feedback, and one of the judges in particular, was “where are the metrics” or, in other words, “where is the quantitative research?” There was clearly a general lack of understanding of or even tolerance for qualitative research. I have generally found that PrioNet has had difficulty in integrating the ’social sciences’ with the biophysical sciences and much more thought needs to be taken around the differences between how experimental research is different from the very diverse social sciences including community-based, anthropological and studies using grounded theory. These traditions are often based on fundamentally different assumptions than positivist social and natural sciences and, to be effective, must not be forced to fit within the positivist framework. More practically (and ethically) speaking, developing trust based relationships with communities takes time and true commitment. Forcing research with communities into our timelines (as scientists/researchers) can  compromise the quality of the research but more worrying can in some circumstances put a community at risk. There are times when crisis situations require that decisions be made under high pressure and tight timelines. In these circumstances, a faster pace of research may be required to inform immediate management decisions (at all scales). This should not replace longer term, in-depth studies of the circumstances that caused the crisis, of the solutions that are/were available and the implications of these short-term decisions on the long term sustainability of Continue reading Agriculture and Social Science - The Missing Links at PrioNet 2009

Treherne Times news article - Think local presentation in Swan Lake, MB

In February, I participated in a number of conferences and sessions. The first, on February 2nd in Swan Lake, was hostd by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives and focused on  the Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative and the process of starting a related project in your own locale (Poster). The next was in Winnipeg at the Growing Local, Getting Vocal conference on grassroots solutions to the global food crisis. I also participated as a facilitator in a workshop on Community-University research partnerships.  I also had the pleasure of participating and presenting as the last speaker at the Direct Farm Markeing Conference in Brandon. Finally, I participated in the PrioNet conference in Edmonton, Alberta to discuss the need for research that contributes to a better of how farm families adapt to BSE. This research can generate knowledge, while at the same time facilitate real-world adaptation.

I truly enjoy the opportunity to speak about and discuss the work of the communities that I am involved with such as the Harvest Moon Society (HMS), Harvest Moon Society Local Food Initiative and the Manitoba Food Charter. Grassroots action is only one part of an effort to affect broader social change. It is refreshing to step back, take a breath and share with others. Important connections are made this way and it gives others an opportunity to see what can be accomplished, what is effective and how to learn from the mistakes of others. As a researcher, I’ve had the unorthodox opportunity to both walk and talk my research. That is, I am both contributing to grassroots action, while at the same time have the privilege to document, write up and communicate with a broader community about this important work.

Click here for a news article about the Swan Lake presentation.

Earlier this week in Manitoba, the Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative launched a new website that will act as a portal between farmers and eaters, facilitating food transactions and information exchange between farm and fork. This exciting new tool will evolve with the organization and in the future will incorporate community building components that will further allow for the exchange of ideas and coordination of this “small scale, sustainable food system”.

The visually appealing main page of the website clearly directs viewers to the key areas of the website: a) Buy Harvest Moon Food; b) Meet your Farmer; c) Get Involved; d) Learn About Our Food

Continue reading Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative Website Launch

These two posters were presented at the PrioNet annual scientific meeting in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The first describes the preliminary findings of our study on Farm Household adaptation to the BSE or Mad Cow Crisis in the Canadian Prairies. The second explores direct marketing as one such adaptive response.

This annual newsletter has been created as an update for individuals who have interacted with this suite of research projects as an interviewee, advisor or interested citizen. Read the attached pdf document to learn about past research and plans for the future. I welcome your feedback or questions

Farm to Fork Research Newsletter

Clearwater 2008 Summary

By Dave Vasey

August 29, 2008

This year marked the forth return of the University of Manitoba’s Rural Communities and Living Environments course led by Dr. Stephane McLachlan to the Clearwater area. Along with Colin Anderson and Alexis Knispel (with Troy Stozek as the ‘busdriver’), twenty-three students engaged in learning, sharing and community to better understand the anatomy of a small prairie town through a whirlwind ten-day visit.

Through precedence by previous years, students ate an almost exclusive diet of food produced by the community and thus the first priority was to visit the Koslowsky’s garden and harvest meals for themselves. The bounty consisted of tomatoes, zucchini, beans, beats, potatoes, peppers, onions and way too many carrots to eat in a week. Fortunately for the group, the Anglican Church group provided a delicious meal after the garden harvest and further chores were left for another day. Continue reading Experiential Learning at its Finest (article by Dave Vasey)

Heartland Quality Foods (HQF), based out of Kamloops B.C.,  is the product of over two years of hard work by a dedicated group of farmers community activists.  This summer, I was met with 3 of the farm families who sell product through HQF as well as Marla and Andrea who have played a key role in the day-to-day affairs, promotion and organization  for the group. 

The issues faced by this nascent cooperative are striking similar to those faced by the Harvest Moon Society Local Food Initiative (HMSLFI) in Manitoba and others across the country. HQF, in one regard, is a step ahead of Harvest Moon in that they have retail and cold storage space in Kamloops. Where HMSLFI have been developing ideas and working on a business plan for almost two years, HQF took a different approach by starting to sell products much earlier in the life of their cooperative and adjusting to challenges along the way. It will be interesting to watch these two initiatives grow and compare the two approaches over time. Continue reading Heartland Quality Foods - Kamloops, B.C.

Three farm families are at the forefront of a community supported agriculture (CSA) movement in the Kootenay region of B.C. dubbed as the “Local Grain Revolution” by Jon Steinman of the syndicated radio program - Deconstructing Dinner.  Matt Lowe (right) was one of the key drivers in the development of this grain CSA. After participating in an eat local challenge, Matt recognized one staple food - bread - was missing from his local foodshed. A meeting was called and the idea to form a CSA was formed. The CSA decided to produce local spelt, oats and wheat and the CSA immediately received overwhelming support from eaters, bakers, millers and farmers. The demand for locally produced grains was obvious and three farm families stepped up to put the seeds in the ground. Our journey through interior B.C. brought us from farm to fork - that is from the homes of each of the farmers involved to the urban centre (Nelson) where the grain will ultimately be eaten. Continue reading Horses, grains and scythes…oh my

Diamond Willow Range is made up of seven Organic Ranching Families who have been collectively marketing their beef products in Canada for over ten years. We visited these ranchers at what seems like a pivotal moment in the history of the group. Click here to view photos. Demand for organic beef is growing and so is Diamond Willow. Rapid growth can be a challenge for any organization and it was fascinating to hear the confidence and innovative spirit of the ranchers that we met with.

We arrived at Bev and Keith Everts ranch late on Sunday night. Bev had offered us a piece of grass to pitch a tent on beside their bunk house and we gratefully took her up on the offer. The Everts had an eventful weekend and Bev was tired so opted to hit the hay shortly after we arrived but not before making us feel welcome and comfortable by showing us to our camping site. Keith and his “out-laws”, Chris and Gord, came down and sat around the campfire until just after the sun went down. We talked, played guitar and enjoyed a beautiful summer evening. That night, we rolled our sleeping bags out and let the twinkle of the stars and crackling of the fire put us to sleep. In the morning, we were up at dawn and took a 2 hour hike up the ridge on the Everts’ homestead. It was incredibly beautiful and we captured some fabulous photos and footage (see pictures below). That morning, we ate breakfast (thanks Bev and Keith), had some coffee and conducted an interview. Keith took us out to check the cattle and we took off just before lunch.

Continue reading Diamond Willow - Organic Beef