As our country celebrates its 150th birthday, there are many people, places and things that make us proud to be Canadian. In December 2016, Abacus Data, an Ottawa-based research group, compiled a list of 78 items that Canadians are proud of. The results included a wide variety of pride-inspiring Canadiana, but one important item on the list was No. 17: Canadian wheat. That’s right—the humble cereal grain that is synonymous with the Prairies scored higher than Queen Elizabeth II, Sidney Crosby, Justin Bieber, Drake, Alberta Beef, Lululemon, the Roots brand and Air Canada. So, how is it that wheat has wiggled its way into our collective hearts? To answer that question, you must go back a quarter-millennium.

EARL Jeninga and 11 other Canadians travelled to Rwanda in January to learn about projects supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) and to see where CFGB funds—which are primarily raised by Canadian farmers—are being put to work. According to the CFGB’s 2015/16 annual report, $551,940 was budgeted for Rwanda during that fiscal year, benefitting a forecasted 20,570 people through agriculture and livelihood assistance projects.

When someone said, “the best things in life are free,” were they talking about being free of gluten and hormones? Based on celebrity endorsements and pop culture sentiment, it seems there’s growing support for these food trends. At the same time, many experts warn that this type of “free” comes at the expense of science-based decision-making, costing consumers money and, to some extent, their health.

Ask someone to name a career in agriculture, and the odds are good that the first word out of their mouth will be “farmer.” While it’s true that farming forms the foundation of the industry, those men and women are supported by a diverse and passionate network of professionals: research scientists, accountants, veterinarians, heavy mechanics, software programmers and marketing specialists, to name a few.

Olds College recently launched its new Werklund Agriculture Institute (WAI) to continue its industry-leading applied research into the field of “smart agriculture.”

In a region where a head of iceberg lettuce costs $10, a bag of carrots costs $7 and a kilogram of grapes can cost as much as $38, it’s easy to understand why nearly 60 per cent of the population is considered “food insecure.” However, several individuals and organizations are experimenting with a range of approaches to reduce food insecurity in the North.

During the spring, summer and fall, western Canadian farmers are hard at work, planting, tending and, eventually, harvesting a number of important crops. Here on the Prairies, if you drive through enough rural areas and long stretches of highway, you’ll likely see one or more of the following crops in nearby fields: wheat, barley, canola and pulses (a term that encompasses a number of dried legumes, including peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas).

John Ware, who ranched in south and central Alberta for about 25 years, has been described as “Canada’s most famous black cowboy.”