(File Photo)

A fifth year undergraduate student in the University of Manitoba's Department of Soil Science is working on a documentary on farming in Manitoba.

Karin Rose explains the video will examine what motivates Manitoba farmers to use certain production practices, while helping urban viewers understand the farming systems used.

"It started out as a class project for pesticide class where I interviewed farmers about pesticide use on their farms. I found I got so many interesting answers I needed to make a full-length documentary. What we've decided to do is make a full-length documentary featuring producers," she explains.

She intends on interviewing around 50 farmers.

"The motivation of the project is to look at what leads farmers to produce using the methods that they do. Another purpose is to determine what farmers see as sustainable in the future of agriculture, and also we'd like to reach the city and educate consumers about where their food comes from," says Rose.

"Being from the city, I'm aware that the majority of consumers are not aware of where their bread comes from. So I find that we make unreal demands on producers to provide cheap food that's also organic. If you want an organic product you  have to understand that it's a lot more work for farmers, and they can produce a lot less food on the same acres," she says. "On the other hand, you have to understand that if you want cheap food, there are a lot of options out there that are completely safe, but you have to accept the fact that producers are going to use biotechnology and scientific advances."

She feels a documentary will reach more people than a conventional academic paper.

"I don't see a lot of consumers reading scientific papers, so if we can format it in a user-friendly way, it'll reach a lot more people and it will educate a lot more people so we can work together as producers and consumers toward sustainability in the future," she says.

Rose hopes to conduct more interviews with farmers following this fall's harvest.

"I'd like to get some final footage of guys doing some seeding in the spring, but I'd like to have the finishing touches almost done by then. I hope to have it done by, let's say, May 2012," she says.

Rose expects the video may be shown at Ag In The City at the Forks, the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, and at various small venues and theatres in Winnipeg, and on the university campus.

If you are interested in participating in an interview with Rose, you can call (204) 781-5036.

~ Tuesday, July 26, 2011 ~