Diane Rogers

When a seed is planted, it doesn’t grow into a candy tree. That’s one lesson the Little Green Thumbs program has taught Saskatchewan elementary schoolchildren, says co-ordinator Adrianne Begg. Whether a student is in a rural or city school, they all need to learn the wonder of how food is produced, she said. Even children […] Read more

There is a research gap in rural women’s health in Canada and Beverly Leipert wants to fill it. The University of Western Ontario nursing professor is working with colleagues at the universities of Calgary and Guelph, Ont., to help produce a book that will be used by academics, policymakers and rural doctors and nurses. They […] Read more

Members of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association used a recent annual conference to refine priorities. CASA executive director Marcel Hacault said the most common request called on the safety group to work with provinces to identify an agency in each province from which farmers can learn more about safety. CASA was also asked to improve […] Read more

A survey of farmers’ attitudes toward safety is leading to a new direction for the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. CASA executive director Marcel Hacault presented results from the on-line survey at the group’s annual meeting Oct. 23, but said more details would be released later this year or early next year. CASA chair Bruce Johnson […] Read more

The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association turned to an American expert for help formatting a more effective message. Jeff Linkenbach, a sociologist with Montana State University, said too often safety messages are couched in a negative way that encourages people to react badly. He has worked with states and provinces to craft antidrinking and antismoking ads […] Read more

A University of Western Ontario nursing professor has dared to offer her assessment of home care service in Canada. “Manitoba offers the best home care services, in my opinion,” Dorothy Forbes told a rural nursing conference in Saskatoon Oct. 21. “Ontario has the worst system.” Forbes said the problem with Ontario’s service is that a […] Read more

Canadian and Australian farmers have different but equally bad habits. Researchers speaking Oct. 19 at a Canadian Rural Health Society workshop outlined results of their studies. Smoking has a detrimental effect on rural Canadians’ health, said Afshin Vafaei. No other factor was as bad as cigarettes, the Queens University masters student found when crunching the […] Read more

Mental health researchers have a puzzle to solve. The suicide rate among rural people is higher than for city dwellers even though the reported rates of mental illness are the same. Mary-Pat Dressler, who delivered that information at a rural health workshop, can’t explain it. “There’s gaps in the data so there may be underreporting […] Read more

The Schellenbergs of Endiang, Alta., didn’t see their livelihood reflected in books their children read. So they wrote one. Rodney P. Magee, which they are publishing themselves using a printer from Delburne, Alta., tells the story of a boy who thinks rodeo is only a male sport. He practises bullriding on his dog as his […] Read more

WINNIPEG – When Johanne Ross asks children what they think about agriculture, she often gets answers about icky, smelly animal poop. She doesn’t deny that manure is part of a farm, but she also teaches the students that agriculture is about food. She surprises them with a list of the industrial products that are made […] Read more