Join in on democracy in action! Policy debates on issues brought by the membership, leadership elections, (re)kindling connections, dancing & music, inspiring speakers, Indigenous-led workshop, more debate, and planning collective action. It’s all here – curated for you, fellow farmers and farm workers – in Saskatoon (and online through zoom).
We will be joined in person with a fabulous Keynote Speaker: Austin Frerick, author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. Read his book before you come for deeply-informed conversations. His chapters on the monopolies of Cargill and JBS transcend borders and his compelling thesis is equally relevant to the Canadian food system.
If you’re coming from away (or even a local looking to get to know the city a bit more!) we encourage you to make a trip out of it! Aside from our empowering convention, you can enjoy the city and surroundings while you’re here. Check out our recommendations!
Agenda
Panel 1: The NFU in action
Thursday, November 21, 11:10am
The NFU is on the cutting edge of farm policy in Canada. Our staff, working with NFU farmer leaders, are researching and analysing the issues, problems, laws, regulations and opportunities that affect farmers. Understanding is the first step towards changing our situation for the better by working together. In this panel we will highlight key areas of policy the NFU is working on, how it connects to you on your farm, and what we can do to bring in policy that truly values farming, land and people.
Keynote Speaker: Austin Frerick
Thursday, November 21, 7:00pm
Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Barons is the story of seven titans of the food industry, their rise to power, and the consequences for workers, eaters, and democracy itself. Readers will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. They will visit the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay—especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil. Barons paints a stark portrait of corporate consolidation, but it also shows that a fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible—if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.
Panel 2
Friday, November 22, 9:00am
The Sunnyside Dairy Story
Sunnyside was the first dairy farm in Saskatchewan to open a creamery and offer direct sale of milk to consumers. Their farmyard market sells dairy products from their 30 Holstein cows, as well other products from their own farm and from nearby producers. Along with Supply Management, the desire to live and farm simply with respect for their cows and the land provides a strong foundation for their business. Bas Froese-Kooijenga will share the story of this unique diversified small dairy farm.
Bas Froese-Kooijenga always wanted to have a dairy farm. He came to Canada from Holland in 1986 and worked on several dairy farms throughout Western Canada for the next decade. After he and Martha met, they started their own small dairy farm in 1997 on the farm where Martha was raised, located on Highway 12 about 25 km north of Saskatoon. They added a farm store in 2014 and began processing milk for direct sale in 2019.
Miyo wîcêhtowin: Indigenous peoples, food, and climate adaptation
Drawing on the Cree term ‘miyo wîcêhtowin’ (good relations), Jeff Baker’s presentation addresses the colonial realities Indigenous peoples have encountered regarding access to and production of food in Canada, shares stories of resilience around food production and access to food, and addresses how these efforts are helping Indigenous Nations adapt to and mitigate the increasingly dangerous impacts of climate change.
Dr. Jeff Baker is a Métis educator and scholar who employs participatory and Indigenous methodologies to explore the transformative possibilities that exist at the intersection of Indigenous and Western scientific ways of knowing. Jeff held the position of Chair in Indigenous Education at the University of Saskatchewan and worked for the Cree community of Mistawasis Nêhiyawak as a Senior Policy Analyst and Indigenous Food Sovereignty Specialist before joining The Resilience Institute as Education and Knowledge Mobilization Lead. Jeff’s work balances issues of equity with those of sustainability and is largely informed by his diverse ancestry and wealth of experience living and working in cross-cultural contexts within Canada and abroad. Jeff was born in Uranium City, SK, and currently resides in the village of Marcelin, SK.
Panel 3
Saturday, November 23, 9:00am
Strengthening Indigenous Communities through Agriculture Cooperatives
Trista will explore the intersection of community, tradition, and sustainable agriculture within Indigenous co- operatives, highlighting their role in building a robust food system. She will examine how these co-operatives serve as more than agricultural entities; they are crucial in maintaining cultural traditions, increasing food independence, and practicing environmentally sustainable farming methods inherited through generations.
Trista Pewapisconias was born and raised on the Little Pine First Nation in Saskatchewan and currently resides in Saskatoon as the Director of Indigenous Relations for Co-operatives First. In her role with Co-operatives First, Trista works alongside community members to form new businesses based on the co-operative model. Her support with business development and planning helps guide groups through starting a successful business. Trista’s professional experience includes various marketing roles and writing business plans for Indigenous start-up companies. She holds an MBA from Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan.
History of Inequality in Agriculture
Dr. Jim Handy will highlight historical research from around the world that demonstrates the benefits of very small scale (peasant) production and lifestyles. These benefits include the most efficient food production, reduced poverty, and vibrant communities. The reverse has also been true; policies designed to take land away from peasants, to impose large farms and to benefit those with capital to invest, have led to increased poverty, less robust rural communities, and food scarcity. Questions and discussion might consider whether this historical research has relevance in the current (and future) Canadian context.
Jim Handy is a Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Saskatchewan, where he has taught for 38 years. He has written four books (and one Detective novel) and more than thirty articles, mostly focused on peasant livelihoods around the world and the ways these livelihoods have been attacked. His most recent books are Apostles of Inequality: Rural Poverty, Political Economy and the Economist, 1760-1860 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2022 and Tiny Engines of Abundance: A History of Peasant Productivity and Repression Halifax: Fernwood Press, 2022.
Guest Speaker: Jim Hightower
Saturday, November 23
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and New York Times best-selling author, Jim Hightower has spent four decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be – consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower believes that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom, and he has become a leading national voice for the 80 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top.
Hightower was raised in Denison, Texas, in a family of small business people, tenant farmers, and working folks. Relevant to the NFU Convention, among his enormous body of work, Hightower co-founded the Agribusiness Accountability Project, a public interest project that focused on corporate power in the food economy.
Hightower keeps his ever-ready Texas humor up front, practicing the credo of an old Yugoslavian proverb: “You can fight the gods and still have fun.”
Challenges Faced by Migrant Workers in Low-Wage Sectors
Gabriel Allahdua is a former migrant farm worker from St Lucia, an island in the Eastern Caribbean. He has been an organizer with the collective, Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) for almost a decade. He is currently an Outreach Worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. He was the first person to hold the position of Activist in Residence (AIR) at the University of Guelph, which brought activists and researchers together. Gabriel is the author of the book Harvesting Freedom published by “Between the Lines”. In this singular firsthand account, he reveals a disturbing system of exploitation at the heart of Canada’s farm labour system.
Eat Think Vote
Eat Think Vote brings together community members from coast-to-coast-to-coast to speak with their federal candidates about food sovereignty, food security, and other issues that matter to them. It’s up to you to make food an election issue! https://www.eatthinkvote.ca/
