Twenty high school students from around Saskatchewan participated in the second annual “Farm to Fork” event in Saskatoon on Tuesday.
It started with a tour of Star Egg and a behind the scene look at how eggs coming from the farm are packaged and moved to grocery stores.
The second stop was the Rayner Dairy Research and Training Facility at the University of Saskatchewan. The students were able to see conventional and robotic milking, as well as a dairy interpretive centre.
The day wrapped up with a cooking session led by Chef Shaun McConnell at The Local Kitchen. He assisted the students in making several dishes from scratch including Scott eggs, homemade pasta and a milk-based pudding desert.
Lance Hefervez is a student from Loreburn, 120 kilometres south of Saskatoon. He came from the Philippines three years ago and is very interested in food.
“With my parents working, I’ve learned to cook for myself. There is a restaurant near our town (Elbow) and the chef there was really nice and inspired me,” Hefervez said.
Lance works at the restaurant during the summer and is eventually planning to go to a culinary school.
Hefervez is the type of student that Saskatchewan farmers want to interact with. Farm to Fork is sponsored by the Saskatchewan Egg Producers, SaskCanola, SaskMilk and the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA).
Two producers spoke to the students following their cooking session.
“We want to promote beef and we can teach kids the benefits of protein in the diet, along with the grains and vegetables that we grow here,” said Brian Cole, a St. Brieux area cattle producer and the SCA Zone 8 Director. “It is part of a good balanced diet and we want people to know that.”
The students had a number of questions at each stop.
“The kids are really invested and interested in knowing where their food is coming from,” remarked Lori Gasper, ag co-ordinator with the Sun West Distance Learning Centre based in Kenaston. “When we were at Star Egg, they were asking about the different types of housing (for chickens) and they were much more informed than I expected them to be.”
This is the second annual “Farm to Fork” event, which is held in conjunction with Canada’s Agriculture Literary Month.
