Joe Kleinsasser Named as 2024 Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Champion Award Recipient

A Rosetown area pork producer has been recognised for his efforts to help share the story of how food is produced in Saskatchewan with the public. Each year the Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Champion Award recognizes a recipient who has engaged with consumers about agriculture and worked to build public trust in farming and food.

Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Executive Director Clinton Monchuk says early this month this year's award was presented as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2024 to Joe Kleinsasser from the Rosetown Hutterite Colony.

Quote-Clinton Monchuk-Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan:

The Farm and Food Care Champion Award is really to try and celebrate those individuals who have been above and beyond in the industry when it comes to trying to increase the public's trust in food, farming, ranching, what ever sector they're in.It really is to showcase those individuals that are looking for the better good of agriculture and trying to engage with consumers about how food is grown here in Saskatchewan and done a meaningful job of trying to get that message across.

So, this year's winner was Joe Kleinsasser and Joe has been an integral part in the success of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan.He's been chairperson of our board of directors, he's been very involved in the past in his hog operation and Sask Pork and has been on numerous other boards.

But, one of the big things is how much he was committed to, whether it was the policy and the engagement with consumers, really trying to make sure every day consumers here in the province of Saskatchewan understood how farmers and ranchers were actually growing their products.He's always been a champion of agriculture and this is just one of those opportunities we have to promote and highlight some of those individuals like Joe.

Monchuk says, with people getting further removed from farms and ranches, we need to do a better job of engaging with these individuals to build confidence in our food and that's what Joe and other winners have done.