Clinton Monchuk is the host of ‘Ask A Farmer’
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A new podcast in the ag space is giving consumers opportunities to control the topics.
Clinton Monchuk, a grain and egg farmer from Saskatchewan, and executive director of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan, is the host of the Ask A Farmer podcast.
This podcast, supported by Canadian Food Focus, will feature interviews with dietitians, farmers and industry experts.
It will also dive into questions from consumers about the food system, hoping to provide information to help Canadians feel confident about their food choices.
“We want to have more conversation about what’s going on in the food industry,” he told Farms.com. “It allows consumers to be more literate and informed about where their food comes from.”
Empowering consumers to submit questions and help drive podcast topics is by design.
The ag sector is good at talking amongst itself, but it’s the consumer who may need more education and resources, he said.
“We needed to get out of our agriculture bubble,” Monchuk said. “As much as we talk to other people in the industry, it’s not going to increase the public’s trust. We need a broader audience so we can make a difference and address the issues consumers have questions about,”
Three episodes are currently available for download.
One episode features an interview with Sue Mah, a registered dietitian from the Toronto, Ont. area. She tries to help people implement recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide.
Another episode has Erika Stewart, a Saskatchewan rancher. She explains the Verified Beef Production Plus program for cattle producers.
And in the third episode, Shannon Crocker, a dietitian and nutrition communications specialist from Hamilton, Ont. teaches listeners how to save money at the grocery store.
The high cost of food is an important topic to all consumers. Conversations like the one with Crocker allow Canadians to understand how prices arrived at this point, Monchuk said.
“We talk about why the price of food has increased,” he said. “And then we’re able to go backwards a little bit and talk about the rising costs of inputs on my farm.”
The Ask A Farmer podcast is available on multiple podcasting streaming services.
Anyone who’d like to submit a question for the podcast can do so askafarmer@canadianfoodfocus.org.