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On Saturday, February 11, the Colchester-East Hants Public Library buzzed with eager adults and children looking to learn a little bit more about the food we love. The event was in celebration of Canada’s Agriculture Day, a day dedicated to celebrating and sharing information on food production in Canada. The celebration, in advance of Canada’s Agriculture Day on February 16, was hosted by Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture and the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture.

“The goal of the event was to promote agriculture and to help everyone involved, both volunteers and participants, to learn something new about agriculture,” says Arin Douglas, a member of Dal AC’s Agrology Club and event volunteer.

The event took place from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and saw approximately 150 children and adults participate. A booth inside the farmers market directed people to the Truro Library to participate in educational activities. Although tailored towards children, the event saw plenty of adults participate as well.

“While the educational activities were child oriented, we also provided resources for parents” explains Valorie Skinner, Agricultural Education Liaison with Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture. “Parents and visitors to the library had the opportunity to visit a resource table which was filled with informational brochures and promotional materials from various commodity groups and Select Nova Scotia.”

Children planted lettuce in Canadian Ag Day containers, made felted soap using Nova Scotia wool and soap, made butter, and helped turn the cider press to make apple cider.

“Children received a copy of Explore Farming in Nova Scotia and the new Explore Farming in Nova Scotia Colouring Book. Add to this, each child received a fresh Nova Scotia,” Valorie explains.

Canada’s Agriculture Day was officially celebrated on February 16. The day is just as it sounds- a day to celebrate agriculture across the country. The theme for this year’s Agriculture Day was ‘Celebrating the Food That We Love’ and aimed to minimize the gap between Canadians, our food, and the farmers who produce it. Canada’s Agriculture Day was hosted by Ag More Than Ever, an industry-driven cause made up of hundreds of partners and agricultural advocates from across the country, all committed to improving perceptions, dispelling myths and creating positive dialogue about Canadian agriculture. Canada’s Agriculture Day saw agricultural advocates from all across the country participate by sharing stories, photo, and videos on their farms, speaking at schools and libraries, sharing recipes, organizing food appreciation days at local businesses and much more.

Not only is Canadian agriculture celebrated on February 16 but the month of March will celebrate Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM). CALM is hosted by Agriculture in the Classroom Canada, a not for profit organization, operating across the country delivering accurate, balanced and current, curriculum‐linked resources on the agriculture and food industry. To celebrate CALM, schools throughout Nova Scotia will welcome farmer volunteers from all different agricultural sectors into their classrooms to read and teach students about agriculture.

Although this year is the sixth year that Canada will celebrate Ag Literacy, this is the first year the celebration will last the entire month. Interestingly, Nova Scotia was the Canadian pioneer of this project, starting Canadian Ag Literacy Month on a provincial basis, ten years ago. In the past, one week was dedicated to ag literacy. In 2016, over 95,000 students and 3,500 classrooms were visited by industry speakers and readers across Canada.

The Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture will host another library event on March 11 at the Halifax Public Library. The event will be similar in style to Truro’s event and the goal is to educate even more people about the importance of agriculture in Nova Scotia and Canada.