48 KPU student receives
Tim Armstrong award Former Country Life in BC publisher’s legacy supports agricultural education
by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – A 16-year
resident of Canada, Angeli dela Rosa is the 2018 recipient of the Tim Armstrong award from the BC Farm Writers Association (BCFWA). The bursary, which bears the name of a former publisher of Country Life in BC, goes to recipients in the second year (or higher) of a post-secondary veterinary or journalism program. Armstrong owned Country Life in BC from 1953 to 1974. “I’m in the sustainable agriculture
ANGELI DELA ROSA
applied science with hands-on experience. The four-year program will culminate in a Bachelor of Applied Science. Living in Vancouver, dela Rosa is acutely aware of the need for more sustainable and affordable food. It’s also one of the reasons she is grateful for being selected for the award. “You know it’s an expensive place to live, so any help … helps ease that financial pressure so I can just focus on school,” she says. “I do have a
program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University out in Richmond,” dela Rosa explains. “I had a career before in experiential education but I got interested a couple of years ago in our food system and got interested in these ideas of how to improve it to make it more sustainable.” The 30-year-old is a more mature student than some past recipients of the award and she comes to her studies with an appreciation of the importance of food. “My parents are both green thumbs;
they’re more than just enthusiastic gardeners. But I never thought that I had a green thumb,” she says. “My parents did a lot of food-growing back [in the Philippines]. Not so much farming, but very productive food gardening.” Dela Rosa chose the sustainable
agriculture program because it blends
part time job but any help is appreciated. I’m grateful to be recognized. Grateful for the support.” The future is bright for dela Rosa. She sees herself as exploring right now and possibly looking to a career of part-time farming and some other type of work on the side. “I’m just excited to be learning,” she says. Country Life in BC publisher Cathy Glover is pleased to see BCFWA continue the award. While she hopes more journalism students will apply in the future, she’s glad to see the support students receive in their pursuit of agricultural studies. Students enrolled in a college or
university anywhere in Canada and who are Canadian citizens or have landed immigrant status may apply for the Tim Armstrong award each fall. Watch for announcements in Country Life in BC, other farm publications as well as school award programs for application dates and additional information.
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2018 Hurry up, Spring!
Hard to believe but March 2018 is here and as the old saying goes, “round and round it goes; where it stops nobody knows.”
Wannabe Farmer
by LINDA WEGNER Without factoring in the
exceptions of weather, politics and global markets, we’ve probably got a pretty good idea. I’m talking about food production, of course, and this month seems like a good time for some musing. As I’ve mentioned before, most of my exposure to large, commercially focused farming operations took place during the decades we lived on the Prairies. Since moving to coastal BC, it’s been all about small and local food production, including backyard gardening. Regardless of size and scope, however, I believe that March symbolizes the long-awaited switch from winter to spring. As the thermometer and rain gauge nudge their ways from nasty, wet and very cold to increased hours of daylight and sunshine, thoughts of working the soil bring their own kind of excitement to my days. For me, the opening of our local farmers’ market and approaching Seedy Saturday events are the perfect kick-off to the season. While I hadn’t heard of this event until we moved here in 2003, a quick count of this year’s on-line
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advertised events in BC totalled 37 Seedy Saturdays boasting all sorts of workshops, entertainment and social interaction. Impressive, to say the least. I won’t touch the
controversy over seed variety, stretching from organic to GMO, but whatever goes into the
ground emerging as food to feed the family or the world is a miracle of life. When you look at those tiny pips, dried and dead in appearance, it’s amazing – almost miraculous – what the application of soil, moisture and warmth can do. More than once I’ve watched a seasoned farmer gaze at a handful of wheat or canola seeds with reverence and in those moments, I never quite got over my sense of awe while I fought back tears. And then there is the
excitement that accompanies the birth of new animals – no matter what time or month of the year they arrive. I trust that I shall never become so “used to it all” that I lose my sense of wonder at the emergence of new life. Be they small farms or large commercial operations, new life is welcome. Who, I might ask, cannot be excited about watching a newborn calf take those first shaky steps across the barn floor or pasture? It’s all part of the emergence of new life, whatever form that life may take. (With one proviso: I’d rather not deal with the resurrection of weeds or rats.) There’s probably much
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more I could add regarding this vital season of preparation for the anticipated fall harvest but I would be negligent if I didn’t add a philosophical component. Simply put, it’s this: let’s continue to march on. In the face of horrific damage done by fires and floods last summer, still so many have opted to move forward – to march on in face of the challenges of rebuilding and renewing. Along with the dirt of the
ground, we need the grit of determination to keep going in spite of whatever life, the seasons, world markets or politics throw our way. Again, I say, it’s time to march on because some causes never go out of style. Let’s keep-on keeping-on because there are values to be protected or lost, depending on whether we allow hard times to block our purposes. No matter if you or I are busy helping deliver a calf, stroking the nose of a favourite horse, depositing seeds in newly-tilled ground or planning this season’s garden, let’s never give up! This is March, it’s the season of renewed life and it’s worth it!
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