The annual Manitoba Open Farm Day dinner was held last night at Portage's Canad Inns.

Several Portage area organizations were recognized for being part of the media tour, including the Food Development Centre.

COO Robin Young explains why it's important to be involved.

Robin Young"To help share the story of agriculture, and also where our food comes from," she says. "And especially being a team of food scientists, to educate people and the public that there are lots of career opportunities in agriculture. This is our first time participating. We're really pleased to be asked to join, and really happy to participate. We did it in partnership with the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology also."

Farm Away Retreat co-owner Tara Lee Simpson says five or six media people toured the local sites, and found out what the event's all about.

"And they visited the four sites in Portage," she says. "So they started out at the Food Development Centre, and then they came to Shur-Gro Farm

Tara Lee SimpsonServices, and then came to Farm Away, and went to Verwey Farms, and got the story about what Open Farm Day is all about."

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin was also singled out, and Executive Director Anais Biernat says it matches their mandate of representing agriculture.

Anais Biernat"That felt pretty good," she says. "It's definitely a great event to be part of, and for us it really matches our mission and our mandate to represent agriculture throughout the year, so definitely nice to be recognized for that." 

Here's a list of Central Region recipients.

 

Guest speaker Kim McConnell