News about the film "...And This Is My Garden".
This documentary follows the teachers and their students from Mel Johnson School in Wabowden, Northern Manitoba, Canada, for a season of seeding, planting, harvesting and preserving, celebrating with a community feast.
The film is directed & produced by Katharina Stieffenhoffer.
On Nov. 30 Eleanor Woitowicz took part in a screeningand presentation of And This Is My Garden tostudents ofSchool & Society course, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba. The Mel Johnson School Gardening Project was presented earlier as a case study "illustrating real sustainability projects that school and students are engaged with".
The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) branded high-quality Canadian Wheat & Barley on the World Market, negotiated best grain prices for farmers and has been instrumental in blocking GM Wheat from entering Canada. All sales profits - minus operating costs - were returned to farmers, not to share-holders.
My parents were grain farmers for 35 years and they appreciate the multiple benefits of the CWB. For the past few months my time and energy has gone towards supporting democratic process & farmers' rights to determine the future of their farmer-owned & directed single-desk CBW. The passing of Bill C-18 - the dismantling of the CWB - is an affront to Democracy. Bill C-18 "Farmers' Marketing Freedom Act" means in actuality that marketing control will pass from farmers to multi-national grain traders, whose mandate it is to buy at the lowest price. Farmers will go from being price-setters to becoming price-takers. Family Farms will disappear at an even faster rate & Corporate Farming will further expand. Food Literacy is now more important than ever. Growing our own food sustainably connects us to the natural cycles & it can be a political act!
