Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan was proud to co-host the 2023 Ag Awareness Summit with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture to celebrate ten years of work to build public trust in our industry.
On February 14 and 15, 2023, over 150 leaders in agriculture came together to learn and share strategies for communicating with non-farming consumers.
At the opening reception on February 14, attendees toasted 10 years of public trust work with a documentary video from the Ministry of Agriculture. In addition, the Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan Champion Award was presented to Alanna Koch in recognition of her efforts to engage consumers about agriculture and build public trust in farming and food in our province and beyond. A great evening of fellowship, food and fun was had by all.
We kicked off February 15 with a tribute to Canada’s Agriculture Day from the Premier of Saskatchewan. It was wonderful to have so many from our industry together to celebrate this important day. Clinton Monchuk then presented Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan’s Year in Review. Our first keynote speaker was Tim McMillan, the former CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, who outlined his experience with activists in the oil and gas sector and warned conference attendees that activists are already beginning to target agriculture.
The conference offered participants the choice of three workshops for improving communications with industry, consumers and policymakers. Toban Dyck, a farmer and journalist, led a discussion about regulatory policies that affect agriculture. Heather Thomson from the University of Alberta explored consumer spending trends and how these impact food products. Travis Low from Blue Moose Media presented tips for effective and targeted communications through social media.
Conference attendees were on the edge of their seats listening to Coin Angus, who presented the riveting story of his 43,000 kilometer journey across three continents and two oceans, surviving a hurricane with nothing more than a rowboat for shelter. His inspiring message provided lessons for dealing with change and unexpected setbacks in everyday life.
Participants gave the event high marks for bringing the industry together for some excellent learning opportunities. “The structure of two keynotes and breakout sessions kept the day flowing and gave a chance to meet different people,” said one delegate. “Great variety and topics of speakers. I loved the networking and discussion opportunities at breakouts,” said another conference attendee. “There were so many positive takeaways and things to think about.”
Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan and the Ministry of Agriculture would like to thank our sponsors for supporting this event: Ag-West Bio, FCC, Federated Co-operatives, Grain Millers, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance, Star Egg Company, TD Bank, Conexus Credit Union and WinField United Canada.
For more information, see https://farmfoodcaresk.org/event/conference/