In Courtney we had a panel of three small-scale organic farmers. One of the things that struck me was the story of one of the panellist who told the audience that after five years of farming she did not feel that people where taken her seriously. Somehow we still see small scale farming as something for hobbyist.

The same is true for our politicians. When they discus agriculture they always talk about large scale Agri business, but it’s a proven fact that if we need to go back to small scale diversified farming if we like to keep on feeding the world. A recent United Nations report confirmed this.

A young person in the audience made a statement that we should look at different models that seem to be successful in other countries. In England they are bringing the farms back into the villages and cities, close to the people who buy the produce.

One more interesting topic on labelling was discussed at the Courtney showing. We now can find if there are genetically modified products in what we buy by looking at the numbers in front of the bar code. Please LOOK AT LABELS.

I was very happy to hear that the Mayor of North Vancouver after seeing the film "Food Inc" put forward a new food policy for the area.