For the fifth year in a row, Farm & Food Care (FFC) Saskatchewan has selected one producer in the province to be the recipient of their Farm & Food Care Champion Award.
The Champion Award recognizes a member of the Saskatchewan agriculture community who has engaged with consumers to share information and build public trust about agriculture. It is awarded in consideration of several components, including advocacy, communication and leadership.
“Nominees have used their skills to help inform consumers or correct misinformation about production practices and have done a measurable job of promoting this great industry,” said Clinton Monchuk, FFC Saskatchewan’s executive director.
This year, the panel of judges has selected chicken farmer Tiffany Martinka as the 2020 recipient of the FFC Champion Award.
Martinka and her family own and operate a grain and broiler chicken farm in northeast Saskatchewan, and she works closely with the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan, FFC Saskatchewan and Canadian Food Focus to share with consumers about where their food comes from.
She is a participant in the Chicken Farmers of Canada’s Young Farmers program, and she keeps a strong social media presence where she discusses food safety, production practices and the challenges of being a producer with her followers.
Martinka regularly hosts virtual farm tours by Facebook Live, showing what life as a chicken farmer is like, and she uses her social media to invite questions and open dialogue from her followers about farmers and food production.
She also keeps up a blog and participates in webinars and educational appearances to spread information even further.
“I feel so honoured to have been selected for this award,” said Martinka, in her acceptance speech. “It can take a lot of work to create content and open up about your farm and family life, [and] I believe we belong to one of the greatest industries in the world and we have some of the best people who belong to this industry, and we have such a good news story to tell in agriculture. I feel compelled to share that story, and I want to share the beauty of the family farm with everybody.”
Martinka’s efforts have made her a leader in the farming community and provided a face for producers that encouraged others to share their stories, said Kim Hill of the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan.
FFC Saskatchewan created the Champion Award to recognize the hard work that industry leaders do to promote agriculture and interact with consumers about food safety, as less than three per cent of Canadians have a direct connection to the farm.
“Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan is pleased to recognize champions like Tiffany for our annual award,” said Monchuk. “Consumers today have very few opportunities to visit farms or speak directly to farmers, and that means that the work that Tiffany does to share her story is vital to building public trust in Canadian food. We’re very proud of the amazing farmers this award recognizes.”
