Carman, MB (September 16, 2015) – Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) is participating in Open Farm Day in Manitoba for the very first time. Sunday, September 20, 2015 will be the 6th annual Open Farm Day in our province. Always held in September – during harvest – the timing was never suitable for a pulse or soybean farmer to be a host at their own farm.
MPSG will be setting up an interactive tent kiosk in a soybean field right outside of the Bruce D. Campbell Food and Farm Discovery Centre (FFDC) at Glenlea, and it will be run by MPSG staff and university students in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. It made sense to establish a display at a location already participating in the event, which provides lunch to attendees and has washroom facilities available. Glenlea’s close proximity to Winnipeg also means their Open Farm Day traffic is high – FFDC has 400-500 people visit them each year.
MPSG’s kiosk will be situated in a soybean field (just north of the entrance to FFDC), adjacent to a large tractor and field implement display, feature a pulse and soybean kid-friendly game and information on International Year of Pulses 2016, and have samples to give away. BEST Chocolate Brownie recipe cards and ½ cup of pinto bean flour in baggies (enough to make the recipe with) are courtesy of Best Cooking Pulses, and pinto bean SNAX are being provided by Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network. MPSG’s kiosk will be open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
“We see Open Farm Day as a great opportunity to talk about pulse and soybean production with the urban population, and to help spread the positive news story of agriculture,” says Kyle Friesen, MPSG Chair. “We want to provide answers to questions that people have, help dispel myths, and get kids and families excited about where their food comes from.”
For more information on Open Farm Day, visit www.gov.mb.ca/open-farm-day. For directions to the Bruce D. Campbell Food and Farm Discovery Centre at Glenlea, visit www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/discovery_centre/location.
About MPSG
MPSG represents 3,800 producers in Manitoba who grow soybeans, edible beans, peas, faba beans, lentils and chickpeas. MPSG’s mission is to provide grower members with production knowledge and market development support, through focused research, advocacy and linkages with industry partners.
For more information, please contact:
Roxanne Lewko
Director of Communications
204-745-6488
roxanne@manitobapulse.ca