Manitoba’s agriculture industry is trying to work its way back into the hearts of city shoppers.
A glossy new magazine will be given to grocery store shoppers and other city consumers before Christmas this year in hopes that letting people know more about who produces their food will make them more friendly to farmers.
“We have a tremendous number of good stories to tell about agriculture,” said Dickson Gould, one of the driving forces behind Savour magazine.
Gould, who is chair of agricultureÐpromoter Growing Manitoba, said Savour will tell feel-good stories about farmers and agricultural production.
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That’s important, he said, because opponents and critics of agriculture have been telling their stories to urban consumers for years, which has hurt agriculture.
“People in the agriculture industry have not been that active in getting the message out and communicating the positive stories of agriculture,” Gould said.
“We will do our best to get the positive messages out.”
Savour, which will be a 32-page magazine distributed free to city shoppers four times a year, will not directly attack the critics of modern farming practices.
But Growing Manitoba hopes that by painting a rosy picture of how food is produced, it can make consumers more willing to trust the agriculture industry.
Wendy Bulloch, executive director of Growing Manitoba, said the magazine will explain that farming is an important part of Manitoba’s social fabric and economy.
It will portray the industry as responsible, professional and sustainable. It will also “dispel myths” and “share facts” about the quality of Manitoba-produced food.
Overall it will try to “create conditions for the continued support of the industry by consumers and government.”
Its sections will include agricultural trivia, agriculture’s global links, profiles of farm entrepreneurs and environmentally friendly farmers, recipes, crafts, and a column about living in an “agri-urban culture.”
Growing Manitoba is a lobby group formed by many of Manitoba agriculture’s major players.
Monsanto, Maple Leaf Foods and Elite Swine, of which Gould is president and general manager, are major financial contributors, as are Keystone Agricultural Producers, the Manitoba Pork Council and the Manitoba Cattle Producers’ Association.
A similar magazine was tried once before in Manitoba, but it failed.
Bulloch said Alberta has a similar magazine, which is doing well.
