Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan (FFC SK) announced a new award in July that honours those who work to advocate for agriculture and inspire public trust in Saskatchewan’s food industry.
“This was our first time offering the Champion Award and we were blown away by the amount of support it has received from the industry,” said Clinton Monchuk, Executive Director of FFC SK. “We received nine impressive nominations for people and organizations who represent all areas of Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector and our selection panel had their work cut out for them.”
Due to the caliber of the submissions and the nature of the award, FFC SK decided to recognize two winners this year, one individual and one organization.
Dr. Leigh Rosengren is a veterinarian, epidemiologist and beef producer from Midale, SK, where she lives with her husband Colin and children Tim (11), Brette (8), and Nate (6). Dr. Rosengren was nominated for the Food & Farming Champion Award for her research, education and advocacy in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and prudent antimicrobial use in livestock production. She is the go to expert for interviews and articles relating to antibiotic use in animals and has developed and delivered education and awareness initiatives across the province.
Dr. Rosengren has contributed to local and national boards and committees and is active on social media, promoting Saskatchewan’s beef industry, animal welfare and sustainable production. In her spare time she operates her grain, and beef farm, pens the blog “exploring food, farming & fear” and has committed her family to putting her messaging into practice.
The Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (SaskCanola) was selected as an industry recipient for their work in developing and marking the License to Farm documentary. This initiative has brought a great deal of attention to the issues farmers deal with in the effort to earn and keep public trust. SaskCanola’s communications tool has sparked conversations on important topics affecting agriculture today, including social license. They approached the topic from the standpoint of a complete agriculture industry, as opposed to one commodity viewpoint, and communicated a powerful message that stood to speak on behalf of growers everywhere.
Since its launch in January 2016 this documentary has been viewed over 80,000 times in 163 countries and earned over 2 million social media impressions. License to Farm received an amazing seven awards at the 2016 Canadian Agri-Marketing Association’s (CAMA) annual gala, including Best of Show Public Relations Programs and Marketing and Communication Campaigns.
The Food & Farming Champion awards were presented on December 15th at Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan’s Farms at the Table Conference in Saskatoon, SK. This annual event brings together crop, livestock, horticulture, culinary and food retail industry representatives to explore ways to increase public trust in Saskatchewan food and farming.
Source : Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan