OSLER, Sask. – It looked like snack time but it was really a test for teachers.
The 16 Saskatchewan educators on a tour July 9-11 to learn about agriculture were asked if they could tell the difference between traditional and low fat potato chips and Oreo cookies.
Arlene Pederson, who teaches home economics at Allan, Sask., said first she smelled the samples and then broke them open at the food laboratory in the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
The final evaluation was taste.
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Pederson said it was easy to tell the less creamy, low fat cookies, but what she didn’t know was what the experts in the lab told her – usually low fat means the manufacturer compensates by adding more sugar or salt.
“Just because it’s fat free doesn’t mean it’s good for you,” said Pederson of the lesson learned.
A more direct relation to agriculture came with the July 10 tour of a dairy farm near Osler that started at the 6 a.m. milking time.
Phil Enns walked the teachers through his 130 head operation that uses computers and transponders to measure the amount of milk from each cow compared to the day before plus their exercise and feed level.
Enns told the group that he was the second generation in the family dairy. Originally his father wanted to raise hogs but in 1974 the pork market bottomed out and the bankers urged him to try dairy.
Enns Farms has 900 acres, 600 of them under irrigation. The farm grows its own hay, forages and cereal to make silage.
Enns hires staff to milk the Holstein herd while he handles the management side.
“There’s always something to do,” he said with a smile during the three hour morning milking shift.
Recording the tour were two cameramen from Woseley, Sask. – cousins Jonathan and Andrew Petrychyn. Their summer project while they wait for Grade 12 this fall is to make three videos from the images they have shot of the tour.
One will be a promotion for the Saskatchewan Agriculture in the Classroom program while the other two will be educational videos of eight minutes each geared for elementary and high school students.
“The level of excitement and involvement of the teachers was inspiring and in fact, we always seemed to be running late because the teachers had so many questions for the presenters and producers,” said program executive director Sara Shymko.
“Although an expensive program to run, the entire agriculture industry will benefit from teachers improving their attitude and increasing their knowledge about Saskatchewan agriculture.”
Manitoba’s Ag in the Classroom program will hold its third tour for teachers in mid-August, said co-ordinator Leanne Campbell, who was on the Saskatchewan tour.
